. . . and name him Stanley.
But I’m getting ahead of myself.
I led my first craft time this past Monday. I’ve helped with programs before but this was the first time I was going solo in terms of creating the craft and running the program. Aside from stupidly killing my knees by kneeling on the floor with the kids (long story) the program went well. Five or so children took part including a couple of boys who were drawn in by the general amazing-ness of my craft.
We made paper plate snowmen. One girl actually bounced and oohed when I showed the demo to entice program participants. Just saying.
Here’s my demo version. As you might have guessed, his name is Stanley.
The direction of the craft relied heavily on supplies already on hand at the library (except for a hole punch which I had to bring from home). Ideally I would have liked to use white glue for the craft but working with a bunch of kids aged 3 to 7 or so in a carpeted room made it not feasible. Glue stick will work but you need to really slather it on.
Anyway, if you want to make your own Stanley, start by stapling two paper plates together (with the bottoms up so you have a curved surface). Next glue pom poms to the top plate to create eyes and a nose. I used a crayon to draw on his “coal” mouth and buttons.
Punch two holes (I used a hole punch but in desperate times it is possible to position a three hole punch properly to use just one hole). Cut a pipe cleaner in half and twist one half through each of the holes to make branch arms.
Finally, to cover the staples holding him together, make a scarf. I had paper strips with a hole punched in one end–I have no idea what their original use was but they were just the right size for snowman scarves and came in tons of colors. I glued one strip across the neck area and then slanted the other one so it would look more scarf-like (and camouflaged the holes that my strips had).
The final result is a fun snowman that is actually pretty sturdy as long as enough glue is used. The kids had fun picking their own colors for the scarf and pom poms and everything worked smoothly (except my knees). It was simple, fun, and festive without being too Christmas biased. I was really pleased with the result of the craft planning and the program itself.
Miss Print 