Fashion Craft: Spin the Wheel Designer

What You Need:

• 3 cardboard circles and 3 cardboard triangle “arrows,” prepared by the parent with cardboard and a box cutter
• Colored markers
• Ruler
• 3 “brad” clips
• White paper
• Pencil
• Scissors
• Glue stick

What You Do:

1. Supply your child with the three cardboard circles, about 10 inches in diameter (you will have done this step beforehand with a box cutter).
2. Help her divide each circle into 6 equal sections. She can use a ruler to help her draw straight lines with a marker. Then she can color each section a different color using markers.
3. Use scissors to poke a hole in the middle of each cardboard circle.
4. Supply your child with three 4-inch cardboard triangles (also pre-cut by the parent).
5. Help your child secure the triangle pointer to the center of each cardboard circle using a “brad” clip: poke the clip into the triangle’s wider part, through the circle’s center hole, and then fold the clip ends over the back of the circle.
6. Tell your child to use pencils, markers, and white paper to draw and color in six different tops (t-shirts, blouses, sweaters, halters, etc.), six different bottoms (pants, skirts of various lengths, shorts, etc.), and six different pairs of shoes (boots, heels, sneakers, flip-flops, sandals, etc.) OR six different faces and hats.
7. Have her cut out the outfits. She can use the glue stick to apply the six different tops on one cardboard circle (one top per section), the six bottoms on another circle (one per section), and the six shoes or faces/hats on the last circle (one per section).
8. Now she can play “Spin the Wheel Fashion Designer”! Have her spin the pointer on each wheel, and she'll get a randomly-picked combination of clothes to make an outfit from. Spin it again to get a new combination! This is also a great time to introduce her to the idea of probability: what are the chances of the arrow landing on a specific piece of clothing? What is the probability of getting a specific outfit combination?

You can also use this as a way to pick out real clothes: just have her draw pictures based on clothes in her closet in real life. Encourage her to take risks with her fashion!