All you need to make Stuffed Stuff is a sheet of butcher paper, some wadded-up newspaper, a few art supplies, and a healthy dose of imagination. Let your child choose the shape—try a simple shape like a heart or star, a nature shape like a leaf or flower, or a simple animal shape like a fish.
What You Need:
- Scraps of butcher paper about 1 yard (1 m) square
- Newspaper or other large scrap paper
- Pens, crayons, paint, and brushes
- Stapler
- Scissors
- Yarn
What You Do:
- Have your child choose a simple shape or design such as a fish, pumpkin, animal, or abstract shape.
- Help your child make a very large drawing of the chosen design on a sheet of butcher paper.
- Cut out the design. To make two identical shapes at once, staple two sheets of butcher paper together and cut them at the same time.
- Have your child decorate both sides of the cutout using paint, crayons, markers, or colored pencils. You can also embellish the cutout with glitter, feathers, construction paper shapes, or other decorations.
- Carefully staple the two cutouts together along the edges, leaving an opening at one end.
- Give the cutout shape by stuffing it with wadded-up newspaper or other scraps of paper. Once it's filled, staple the open end closed.
Now your child has a fabulous Stuffed Stuff buddy to play with! For a fun twist, you can also stuff the shape with a gift, prizes, candy, rewards, or other fun items. You can even make an entire zoo, undersea world, or crazy shape garden out of Stuffed Stuff!
By MaryAnn F. Kohl
Adapted with permission from "Preschool Art: It's the Process, Not the Product." Copyright 1994 by MaryAnn F. Kohl. Used by Permission of Gryphon House, Inc., Maryland. All Rights Reserved.
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