Make Your Own Worry Dolls or Toothpick People

Are these cute or what?


Materials Needed

Toothpicks - the kind that are square in the center but round at the ends
Embroidery floss in various colors, including flesh tones
Small bead with a hole that allows it to fit snugly over a toothpick
Scissors - the smaller the better
Tacky glue - the quick-set type is best, or use super glue
Tweezers (optional but helpful)


How to Do It

1. There are several possible ways to arrange toothpicks to make a worry doll; I found this one in an old craft book and it seems to be pretty effective. The photo to the right shows the pieces you will need. The sizes don't have to be perfect. For reference, the piece in the center that will form the head and torso is about 1 1/2" long.

2. Begin assembly by gluing the "legs" to the body, with the pointed tips of the legs at the halfway mark of the body piece. You can use an extra toothpick to apply the glue. If you feel clumsy with such things and think glue might squeeze out, work over waxed paper.

3. The doll in this example is a girl, and she's going to be wearing a skirt. Cut a length of embroidery floss about 18" long. It takes more than you think it will! Dab some glue on the back of the doll, and begin wrapping the string around it starting at the "waist." Add glue on the back as needed, and continue down until the skirt reaches the length you want. If you want pants, just wrap the waist and each leg separately. Let the glue set and trim the ends on the back.

4. Choose a shirt color and wrap each arm. Then glue the arms to the outside of the legs, right at the midpoint of the body. Note that the pointed ends of the arms become the shoulders. They will be covered with more floss, so don't worry if they're not perfectly neat.

5. Let the glue set until the arms are fairly secure. Then glue and wrap with the shirt color, beginning just above the shoulders. To make the shirt go down far enough, you may want to adjust your wrapping so it goes under the arms. Use a toothpick or tweezers to help push the thread up under her armpits.

6. The bead will form the head. Slide it onto the toothpick and glue to secure, leaving a short "neck." Let the glue set and trim any protruding length of wood from the top.

7. Cover the head and neck with glue. Begin at the neck and carefully wrap upwards with your flesh colored floss. It's okay if the top and back of the head are a bit messy.

8. Glue on some floss for hair in the style and length of your choice.


Variations and Tips

• You could smooth the "feet" and "hands" with sandpaper if you want.
• Make some accessories for your dolls. Headbands, scarves and shoes should be pretty easy places to start.
• I prefer faceless dolls, but you can certainly add such details with a felt-tipped pen. You could add buttons, pockets or jewelry the same way.
• A larger version could be made from skewers or pencils and yarn.
• You could wrap the whole body in one color and then glue on bits of fabric for the clothes.
• These would make great embellishments for cards or attachments to gift tags. They could be used as ornaments, on hair accessories, or as jewelry. For a more academic slant, try putting a few in a diorama.

Amazing Free Paper Crafts & Card Models - Print, Cut & Assemble

I've discovered some incredible sites that offer printable paper crafts. These are not your average cut-and-fold giraffes or origami cranes; the ones I'm listing here are truly impressive. This craft is often referred to as "card modeling" because heavy cardstock is the preferred medium.

Many of these are highly detailed and labor-intensive, so unsuitable as a project for younger kids. I'm going to make some animals to use in finger plays, though, and some of the toy-making projects might be fun to use with the little ones. Here are my picks for the best, along with some other links I found along the way.

1. Canon 3D Papercraft: Just wonderful! Make pop-up cards, seasonal decorations, ornaments, animals, boxes, masks, or flowers. There is also a collection of 40 buildings and vehicles that can be used together to make a miniature town. Or choose to make some famous buildings or... or just go look, it's amazing!

2. Yamaha Motor: Yes, the motorcycle company. This Japan-based site (it's in English) features models of motorcycles, animals (like the macaw pictured above), and seasonal items. They are so breathtakingly realistic you may have trouble believing they're made of paper. Lots of work but worth it if you enjoy a challenge. (Nissan, not to be outdone, also offers some paper models of cars. This site is in Japanese, though, and the cars aren't nearly as real-looking. Honda also has some cute cars, but again - in Japanese.)

3. The Toymaker: Adorable, whimsical paper creations. Some are available in both color and black and white so you can save ink and color them yourself if you so choose.

4. Haunted Paper Toys: Perhaps a bit on the dark side for the younger kids, although the "Pocket Monsters" might be a fun one. There are some mechanical toys here, too, like a bat that flaps its wings when a handle is turned. Great detail, and perfect for Halloween decor.

5. Papertoys.com: Small, and not as detailed as some of the others - but relatively easy. A variety of vehicles and landmarks.

6. Mirkwood Designs: Tons of really nice printable templates for boxes, cards and envelopes. This doesn't quite fall into the "card modeling" category, but I like it so much I couldn't skip it in this list. I can see myself having the kids decorate these, and then doing the actual assembly myself. Older kids, say fourth grade and up, could do most of these unaided. In any case these designs would be wonderful as gift boxes or to hold holiday cards.


Other Sites to Check Out

HP Activity Center
Iceberg Bouwplaten
3D Papermodel
Currell Graphics
Cardmodelers.org
Space Station 42

Childhood Brain Modification

Just came across this fascinating page with all sorts of odd behavior ideas that bring me right back to my own childhood.

ATTENTION ALL GROWNUPS. Your "inner child" has long been waiting for a chance to usurp control of your body and force it to perform certain actions. The time is now at hand. Read and follow the instructions below. Do this now.

The site includes detailed instructions for such entertaining activities as creating giant static sparks, playing a blade of grass like a musical instrument, and crossing only one eye. Kidlike fun with a good dose of science thrown in! If nothing else, you're sure to find something that will get your kids' attention (or completely gross them out, depending.)

DIY Treasure Hunt Jar

We've all seen those cool clear plastic tubes containing small objects surrounded by filler material. They're sort of like a 3D I Spy. You twist and turn them to find specific objects. I wanted one for my classroom, but these things retail for over $20 and that's a lot out of my paycheck for just one toy. So, of course, I made my own.

All I did was get a tall, thin, clear container. I used a tennis ball package, but you could just as easily use a pasta storage container or a tall water bottle. Don't make it too wide, or stuff will disappear in the middle part. I filled mine with rice and small toys - a ball, some alphabet letters, stuff from vending machines, and so on. I alternated the rice and the objects so they wouldn't all be together. I left an inch of airspace to make it easier to shift things around inside. Then I just put the lid on and glued it with Gorilla Glue, after which I wrapped it in duct tape so the hooligans wouldn't have a chance of opening it.

You can write little rhymes like those in the I Spy books, or just have them find things that start with whatever letter. Or just let them shake it and look. Either way, it'll provide some entertainment.

Homemade Face Paint

We're well into County Fair and Halloween season now, so I dug up some recipes for paint that can be used on skin. There are lots of recipes floating around, but this is the one that seems to work best for me. I'm not a fan of the recipes with corn syrup (too tempting for the kids to eat) and shortening (greasy and hard to wash off). The one I use contains neither.

All you do is mix together about one part cold cream to two parts cornstarch or baby powder. Add a little water until you get the consistency you want. Divide into small containers (film canisters, baby food containers, etc.) and add food coloring to each. Don't forget to leave one portion white; in fact, you may want to make some extra white since you may need a lot of it. Optionally, check your Dollar Store for cheap eye shadows and blushes that can be crushed and mixed into the paint for a shimmery effect. Body glitter would also be a fun addition.

You can apply this paint with brushes or Q-tips. Try using stencils to get cool designs. For instructions on various designs, check out Face Painting Designs, Halloween Face Painting, and Community Playthings. For sheer inspiration, take a look at this incredible collection.

You already know it, but I'm going to say it anyway: be sure to check for any allergies before doing a project like this. This recipe uses very safe ingredients, but you never know.

Photo courtesy of Jenn (via Flickr).

Super Easy Toy Boat From Craft Foam

This week in my school we have a transportation theme, and as part of it I've decided to put some toy boats in the water table. Unfortunately for me, money is tight and my new class is a bunch of hooligans. Seriously, they destroy everything. They're still toddlers in a lot of ways, though, so I'm understanding of their need to tear, smash, drop and crush the brand new toys I bought with my own money just for them. Hopefully they too will be understanding of my need to cheap out and just make disposable toy boats.

These boats are fairly sturdy and take only a minute to make. All you need is a rectangle of "fun foam" and a stapler. Overlap the corners of one short end as shown in the photo to the right. Staple. Then put another staple in the bottom corner. Repeat on the other side. Your boat won't sit upright on "land," but it will do so in the water. (The one in the photo above is propped up in the back.) It's not completely waterproof but it won't take on much water, and will still float even if it has a little liquid in it.

You could vary this by adding a sail, decorating with permanent markers, or cutting the edges with fun-shaped scissors. An anchor could be added with some string and black foam with a pebble glued on as a weight. A little life preserver from a donut of white foam would be cute, too.

These boats are strong enough to carry around a few Lego people. A large one made of a whole sheet of foam would be great to use in a pool and would certainly carry a larger doll. My little ones are going in a shallow tub of water - colored blue with a bit of food coloring - and I'm going to teach the kids how to have boat races by blowing the crafts across the water. We'll also experiment to see how many small, smooth stones it takes to make these puppies sink. Ahoy, matey, there be science ahead!

Make a Coloring Page From a Photo

I was thinking today about a few activities around a "Student of the Week" sort of idea for my preschoolers. Naturally I considered the standard All About Johnny poster, making a weekly book in which the other children say nice things about the person, and even taking an enlargement of his or her photo and turning it into a puzzle. These are all great ideas that wouldn't be difficult to implement. But then I came up with a slightly more time-consuming but very satisfying idea: what if I turned that photo into a coloring page?

The easiest way to do this would be to take the child's picture against a light, plain background and enlarge it on a copier. You'll probably have to mess around with the settings, perhaps lightening it up a bit so it looks less like a photo and more like a drawing. You may not get that line-art look, but you'll get a reasonably good result.

If you have access to a decent computer, you can get something even nicer. I'm told some versions of Kodak EasyShare software have an option for this, although my (OSX) version doesn't. There are also numerous tutorials online for manipulating a photo into a coloring page using graphics software like PhotoShop. Photoshopsupport.com has a pretty simple one. Flying Sam has a couple of different methods. Fototiller has one with only three steps. There's also Intocartoon, a Windows-only program that does the work for you. It's not free but it does have a free trial download.

This doesn't necessarily have to be part of a "Student of the Week" plan, either. I'm thinking you could do it on a child's birthday, or give a child who is moving away a book with everyone's picture. It would also be a nice gift for a kid who is sick at home or in the hospital. Use photos of each child with their mom or dad - they can color it and frame it as a Mother or Father's Day gift. (Oh, I am so doing that! It'll be a hit!)

This might take a while to do, but the "cool" factor is pretty high. I think the idea is flexible enough that once you have it done the result could be used for several projects. Anyone have any other ideas about how line art pictures of your students could be used? Please, share them in the comments!

(Clip art licensed from the Clip Art Gallery on DiscoverySchool.com.)

Recipe: Silly Putty

A lot of books and sites have alternate names for this wonderful material, because they want to avoid getting in trouble for using a trademarked name. Well, too bad. If a person knows they want homemade Silly Putty, how are they to find the recipe online if people are calling it things like "Fun Putty?"

Anyway, to make your own Silly Putty, all you need to do is mix together roughly equal parts of white school glue and liquid starch. We get the glue in gallon containers and the starch is easy to find at any grocery store. If you only want a little, say less than a cup, measure out equal parts of each ingredient. You might want to go this route if this is your first time making the stuff. Try starting with a tablespoon of each.

If you want a lot, pour your glue into a big plastic bowl and then add liquid starch a little at a time. Don't bother measuring. Stir and knead until it reaches the right consistency - you'll know it when it happens. It will be smooth and rubbery. I like to just dump in the ingredients and hand the bowl to a child. Play your cards right and you'll never have to touch the stuff (although you'll probably want to!) I've also let each person make their own by pouring the glue and starch onto styrofoam plates. A chemical reaction causes the glue to become stretchy and more solid. You may need to drain off excess starch after mixing. If kids are doing the mixing you can have them gently dab their putty with a paper towel.

I've also made the same material using that blue gel glue. It comes out a transparent blue, which is really neat. It's stiffer than the white glue version, and not really stretchy, so I just kept it in a plastic bag and let the kids play with it that way. The result here might depend on the brand I used, so you should experiment to see what you can get with your locally available types.

You can add in food coloring or liquid watercolor to your Silly Putty for even more fun. Divide up the batch and make several colors for an entertaining color-mixing experiment. I wouldn't let kids do the initial mixing with their hands if you're using food coloring, though, because the concentrated stuff will really stain their skin and clothes. Stir the color into the putty a bit before you give it to them.

The more you play with this stuff, the better it gets, so let the kids smoosh it up for a good long time. You can use this putty the same way "real" Silly Putty is used... Pull it slowly so it stretches, and snap it fast so it breaks. Press it into molds, cut it with scissors or cookie cutters, or try using Play-Doh tools with it. It will also lift images from newsprint. Clean-up is pretty easy as long as you limit the kids to using it in one area. Putting down newspaper helps. Vinegar will take the stuff out of clothes, carpets and hair. When you're done, you can store the putty in Zip-loc bags, margarine tubs, or plastic easter eggs.

Fill up your water table with the stuff. It might give your director a heart attack, but it sure will entertain the kids. Good times.

DIY Ring Toss Game

I wanted to do up an article about making your own ring toss game that would knock your socks off, but I can't beat this great tutorial. It's a straightforward process of taping together empty water bottles.

For variations, you might put a little sand or rice in each bottle, or even colored water. It might be fun to use different sizes of bottles, with some bottles being worth more points than others. Of course, this would also go nicely with a lesson on recycling. The kids themselves could drink the water, and then you could talk about ways to reuse the bottles.

Start drinking that water so you can "toss" together this fun activity! (Sorry, that was bad. It's been a long week, okay?)