Fun With Photo Sensitive Paper

Light sensitive paper is a fun addition to your craft cabinet or science shelf. The paper is specially coated with chemicals that react when exposed to bright light. Direct sunlight will achieve the best results, but leaving your sun print paper exposed to household light will also change it, so keep your paper in its protective, light-resistant pouch when not using it.

Nature Print Paper is great for 

1. Science exploration:  

• Smear sections of the paper with sunscreen to test how it changes the reaction.
• Test the paper in the light for different lengths of time to see how the results change.
• Use transparent, translucent, and opaque objects on the paper and compare the differences. 

2. Nature study:  Experiment with objects you find on a nature walk to design a nature print -- leaves, flowers, dead insects, seeds, and twigs.

Nature print paper is a novel way to record observations in your nature notebook. Even children who don't like to draw will enjoy using light sensitive paper to illustrate their notebooks. Make sun prints of the various leaves you find on a nature walk and later label them.

3. Crafts: Make art, note cards, and other creative products. 

TIP #1: Keep your objects fully flat on the light sensitive paper in order to get the crispest image.

If the wind blows your leaves around, for example, the outlines will be blurry.

One solution is to lay a clear sheet of plastic over your layout to hold everything down but still allow light to reach the paper. If your objects are heavy, there is no need for this step.

TIP #2: Lay your paper on a large book or baking sheet.

The sturdy base gives you an easy way to move your paper and its objects in and out of the sunshine without ruining the outlines.

TIP #3: Avoid boring shapes like perfectly round bottle tops or square pieces of paper.  

Instead, go for irregular things like combs and forks. Anything with a unique, detailed edge will make an interesting pattern on the photo sensitive paper.