Make a Yarn Head

What You Need:

• 1 balloon, uninflated
• Yarn
• Spray stiffener such as “Stiffen Stuff”
• Paper bowl
• Felt
• Scissors
• Sharp pencil

What You Do:

1. Help your child blow up the balloon. This will form the structure of her yarn head.
2. Have her wrap the balloon in yarn. Change the direction of the yarn often for a fun, random effect. She'll want gaps in the yarn, so don’t cover the balloon completely, but make sure there's enough to hold its shape after you spray it.
3. When you're done wrapping the yarn, cut the yarn off the skein or ball, and tuck in the end.
4. Spray the yarn-covered balloon with the stiffener according to the directions on the bottle. Place the damp balloon on the paper bowl to dry. Coat at least three times.
5. It will take approximately one hour for the last coat of stiffener to dry. Help her cut a variety of silly eyes and mouths from felt. Remember to size them appropriately for the balloon.
6. Don’t pop the balloon just yet! The balloon gives the fragile yarn head added support while young hands are busy working. Before popping the balloon, help her glue on a mouth and eyes.
7. While the glue on the eyes and mouth is still wet, invite her to use her finger to poke the balloon through the gaps in the yarn. You want to loosen the balloon as much as possible from the yarn. Use the sharp pencil to pop the balloon.

For a fun party idea, help your child make several heads ahead of time and then invite friends over to make yarn head self-portraits. Remember—silly is good!