Faux Stained Glass and Rose Windows

We have been learning about the Middle Ages in our CKLA unit and throughout the unit there are stained glass pictures, as well as Rose Windows.  We also coincidentally happen to be learning about angles, lines, and symmetry in math.  SO I decided we would use these two concepts and put them together into a fun (and quite frankly stunning) project!  Here is what we did.

Stained Glass

We began our geometry unit learning about points, rays, lines, and angles, so I decided to take that idea one step farther and have the students create "Stained Glass Windows" using the concepts of lines and angles.

First, I passed out this sheet and a ruler to the students.  I asked them to create a design using the straightedge with no more than 10 lines on it.  (to be honest, in the final project on the windows, 6 lines was the max that came out looking nicely because of the width of the painters tape....more on that later.)  They then colored it in and labeled all of the points on the drawing.  A point was everywhere two lines met.  They used a sharpie to label the points.  Then, on the sheet, they identified all of the geometric shapes that were being requested of them.  In reality, this was very difficult for the to do, so I helped guide them through it using my example.

Once that was done, the students go to working on the windows.  I blocked out 1/2 of a window pane for each student using a piece of 1/2 inch wide painters tape.  Then, the students began to tape up the design they drew on their math page.  I showed them how to measure and rip the tape, and they were off.  

After each section was taped, the kids used washable tempra paint (the kind the school buys) to paint the sections.  This was MASSIVELY exciting for the students.  I did have to show a few how to paint using long strokes so they didn't get clumps of paint on the window, but overall, they came out looking amazing.

Once they were dry, I peeled off the painters tape and we were left with a stunningly gorgeous art display that looks SO good when the light shines through.  And when it is all done, and we are ready to take it down, all we have to do is use a little soap and water and it will come right off!

Rose Windows

We also happen to be learning about symmetry in this unit, so I had the kids make Rose Windows.  This particular type of stained glass is found all over gothic cathedrals of the middle ages time.  They are gorgeous and show tons of symmetry.  There also happens to be quite a few examples in our CKLA reader, so we looked at those and pointed out the radial symmetry in each.

Once we had our math lessons in symmetry, I gave the students a piece of round diffusing paper (these ones are from Roylco and worked perfectly.)  They folded it in half twice and drew a simple, yet elegant design on the quarter using pencil.  We talked about how this was eventually going to transfer into all 4 quadrants so the design would become a radial symmetry design, just like the Rose Windows we looked at were.

I then had them trace the design using a silver or gold metallic sharpie.  When tracing, we followed the steps in this video here (if you watch it, there is a very, very good tutorial of how to make these windows.)  As the kids were tracing, the gold looked bright and wonderful, while the silver looked muted.  HOWEVER, once the final product was done, the silver ones actually stood out the most. 

Once all 4 quadrants were traced, the kids used an ultra fine tip sharpie to outline all of the metallic sharpie.  This made the final products look more like stained glass and really helped to give them depth.

Then, using regular water-based markers, the kids folded the rose window back up and colored ONE quadrant.  The used paint brushed and dabbed on a lot of water into each space.  I found that the more they controlled this with dabbing, instead of painting it on, the more vibrant their end colors were.  They didn't bleed as much into each other with the dabbing of the paintbrush.  Also, be sure they use A LOT of water.  It should pretty much be soaking by the end.

Once that was done, the kids opened their circles up and found the color had bled through.  They truly looked gorgeous.  Then, once they were dry, I hung the rose windows up on the real window and let the sun shine through!

Here are all of the materials that we used for these two projects on my Amazon Storefront.