A shimmering ice disc filled with petals and leaves that catches the morning light like a stained-glass window.
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This one started as a way to use the flowers my daughter insists on picking on every single walk. We could not keep them alive, so we froze them instead.
Filling the pan is the calm part: she floats petals and leaves one at a time and rearranges them for ages. Then comes the hard part, waiting overnight, which she asks about roughly every twenty minutes.
The next morning we hang the disc from a branch and watch the sun come through it. It melts by lunchtime, and somehow that makes them love it more.
Head outside or to a vase and gather soft petals and tiny leaves together. Pansies, daisies, and ferns work beautifully.
Fill the pan with about 2 cm of water — just enough to make a thin, strong disc.
Let your child scatter petals and leaves across the surface of the water.
Lay the ribbon in a loop so both ends dip into the water; the ice will freeze around it to create a hanger.
Carefully carry the pan to the freezer and leave it overnight until completely solid.
The next day, run the outside of the pan under lukewarm water for a few seconds to loosen the ice.
Turn the pan over and let the suncatcher slide out onto the towel.
Hold it up to a window or hang it outside on a cool day and watch the light glow through the frozen flowers.
Thin ice discs are stronger and clearer than thick ones. If the disc cracks, refreeze the pieces in a fresh layer of water.