How to Make a Sit-Upon

What You Need:

• Newspaper
• Old material like a pillow case, T-shirt, or large piece of material left over from an old project
• Needle and thread
• Piece of heavy plastic approximately 14" x 23" (a piece of a shower curtain works well)
• Stapler
• Acrylic or fabric paint (optional)

What You Do:

1. Have your child stack up some old newspaper so it's in a nice neat pile. She’ll probably want the newspaper to be about two inches thick.
2. If she wants a colorful seat, invite her to paint the material that she's using. She can use basic acrylic paints or fabric paint, because there will eventually be a plastic cover on the seat. However, another option is to use a brightly-colored plastic covering, instead of a clear one.
3. If the material you are using is an old T-shirt or pillow case, help her slide the newspaper into the T-shirt or pillow case.
4. Cut down the material so that it's just slightly larger than the stack of newspaper.
5. If your child already knows how to sew, have her sew the opening of the material shut, with the newspaper inside. If your child doesn't know how to sew, then take this opportunity to teach her a basic stitch. If you are using a T-shirt, you'll also need to sew the neck hole and arm holes shut.
6. If you are using a left over piece of material for this project, she'll need to fold the material over the newspaper and sew it on three sides. If she's a beginning seamstress, you may want to sew two of the sides, and then have her practice by sewing the third side.
7. Ask her to lay the piece of plastic out on a flat surface. Set the cloth covered newspaper on one end of the plastic, and fold the plastic over the newspaper.
8. Go around the three sides where the plastic is open, and as you fold the edges under, help your child staple the plastic together. Make sure all the staples are facing one side, which will be the bottom.

The plastic cover on the sit-upon makes it remarkably water resistant and easy to clean, so be sure to grap it for upcoming camping trips or soccer games!