If you’ve been on TikTok lately, you’ve probably seen it — families painting stunning stained glass crosses directly onto their glass doors for Easter, and it looks like something that required real skill. It did not. This Easter window painting for kids costs less than $8, takes about 45 minutes start to finish, and washes off clean after the holiday.

This is one of those rare crafts where the gap between how impressive it looks and how simple it actually is does all the work for you. From the street, it genuinely looks like a professional installation. Up close, it was made by your kids with painter’s tape and a few bottles of Apple Barrel craft paint.

We did this as a homeschool Easter activity this year, and it is officially going into our rotation. Here is everything you need.

• 1-inch masking tape (~$2 for a roll — regular masking tape works fine on glass, no need for the expensive stuff or painters tape)
• Apple Barrel acrylic craft paint — we used Bright Blue, Pink Polish, Petunia Purple, Lime Tree, Green Turquoise, Melted Chocolate, and Pale Daffodil ($.58 each at Walmart, 2 fl oz bottles are plenty)
• 1-inch foam brushes (4-pack for under $2 at Walmart)
• Paper plates for paint
• Paper towels and glass cleaner for prep

That’s it. You likely already have some of this on hand — and even if you grab six paint colors, a roll of tape, and a foam brush pack all at once, you are still coming in under $8.

Quick wipe with glass cleaner, paper towels nearby. That’s the whole prep.

This is the one step that requires a steady hand, so save it for yourself or an older child.

Start by taping out the cross shape in the center of the glass. The key detail: cut away the tape inside the cross so the vertical and horizontal pieces connect with no tape barrier between them. This is what gives you that clean, solid cross once everything comes off.

Next, make 9 tape lines radiating outward from the points of the cross toward the edges of the glass — like light rays shooting out from the center. Add shorter lines in between to create geometric shapes across the whole pane.

Do not overthink the shapes. Irregular sections look more like real stained glass, not less.

Parent or 12+ job.

Always paint from the inside of the door or window. Better control, no wind, cleaner results.

Squeeze two colors onto each paper plate. Using a foam brush with a simple stroking motion, fill in each section with one solid color. The only rule: no two matching colors can touch. Let the kids choose — that is genuinely the best part.

Age breakdown that worked for us:

• 12+ (or a patient adult): taping
• 8-11: painting the border sections
• 5-7: painting the middle shapes
• Everyone: peeling the tape

Two light coats give the best result. One coat can look streaky; going too thick slows the dry time.

Use Melted Chocolate to fill in the cross itself. The rich brown gives it a wood-toned look that makes the cross feel grounded and intentional against all the bright spring color around it.

You could also do white if you want it to pop!

Acrylic dries to the touch in 5-10 minutes. Once dry, anyone can peel the tape — and this step is genuinely the most satisfying part of the whole project. Hand it off to the kids.

The blank lines left behind are what create the stained glass effect. Thicker tape = bolder lines. Thinner tape = more delicate and detailed.

Optional: Use acrylic paint markers to write He Is Risen across the bottom or along one of the sections. It photographs beautifully and adds a faith statement your neighbors will notice. (I lack in calligraphy skills, so we opted out of this one.)

This is a mom job. A simple razor blade scraper removes dried acrylic cleanly from glass — no residue, no damage. Follow up with glass cleaner and the door looks exactly as it did before.

Acrylic does not bond permanently to glass the way it does to porous surfaces. That is what makes this Easter window painting project work so well as a seasonal decoration — it goes up easily and comes down just as easily.

Works on any glass surface too. You do not need a glass front door. A sliding glass door, a large living room window, a storm door — the bigger the surface, the more dramatic the final result!

Before you start painting, this is a natural moment to look up a short video on the history of stained glass in churches. Kids are genuinely curious about why something so beautiful would be used in a place of worship — and the answer is worth knowing.

Stained glass windows were used for centuries to tell Bible stories in an era when most people could not read. The colored light was understood as a symbol of the divine — ordinary light transformed and made beautiful as it entered a sacred space. Connecting that history to what your kids are making gives the whole project a different weight.

(Here’s the video we used, but comment below if you have another one that your family has enjoyed!)

The novelty factor is real. Telling a six-year-old they get to paint on the actual door? Their eyes go wide- mine couldn’t believe it! It doesn’t feel like a craft — it feels like permission to do something they normally would not be allowed to do, which makes it immediately exciting before the first brush stroke even happens.

It’s also a forgiving project. The brushstroke texture up close actually adds to the stained glass effect rather than detracting from it. There is no wrong way to fill in a shape with color. The tape does all the precision work.

And from the road? It looks absolutely stunning.

Quick stats: Total cost under $8 — Prep time ~15 minutes (taping) — Painting time ~30 minutes — Dry time 5-10 minutes — Ages 5+ for painting, 12+ or parent for taping — Cleanup: razor blade after the holiday, done.

If you loved this Easter window painting project, here are a few more ways to keep the season screen-free and memorable.

Easter Activities for Kids: 10 Screen-Free Ideas Families Will Love — simple, low-prep activities for the whole Easter week.

Easter Basket Ideas for Kids Under $20 (Screen-Free, Non-Candy) — things my boys have actually used, ready to grab.

If you want to carry the screen-free energy past Easter morning, here is where to head next.

Grab the free Nature Scavenger Hunt Printable for Kids — print one card per kid, fill it out at the trailhead, and let them race to find everything on the list. It is the easiest way to turn any outdoor time into something they are actually excited about.

Want to go deeper on one outdoor theme? The Mini Explorer Packs on Etsy are themed activity sets — wildlife spotting, rocks and geology, waterfalls — each one $5-6 and an instant download.

Planning a mountain trip this spring or summer? The BRP & Great Smoky Mountains Family Travel Learning Guide gives kids a real mission — 27 activity cards across five learning themes, age-tiered for kids 5 through teens, with journal pages and a full week schedule built in.