Our theme was 'All About Me'.Well, and 'Back To School', technically, since the previous week was the first week of public school and we did absolutely nothing while we got back into the school groove. So I tried to smoosh them both together, which was mildly successful, as I might have suspected if I'd given it more careful consideration beforehand.
One project the kids did which was really fun was making their own 'people'. Sort of a paper doll with cloth clothes, dressed by the kids and decorated to look like themselves. Super easy, but it did take a bit of prep; I'd say no more than 20 minutes- and it would be shorter if you only had to do it for one child. I would call this project appropriate for kids up to 8, at least.
The first step was to cut out the 'person's' shape. I used manila file folders opened up, and sketched a basic person shape. Simple. It doesn't have to be perfect (look at mine!), as it will be clothed.
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| I cut out clothes from random extra cloth I had sitting around. Shirts, pants, dresses, and belts were all I needed. I made sure to cut out extra so that each child could have a choice. Then, it's assembly time. I had them glue the clothes right on their 'people'. We used yarn for hair, stick-on gems for decoration, and I cut shoes for those who wanted them out of felt. It would be easy to add bits of lace or other trim if you wanted. Of course, the essential step is having them draw their own faces. I left the imperfect bits (clothing glued on wonky, eyes in the wrong place, etc.) because it's actually THEIR project, not mine, and because I like to do these sorts of things once a year or so and compare the results just for fun. |
