This is a cute craft project for a primary aged child to work on with a parent in preparation for Christmas.
This fun homemade Santa involves cutting, sticking and even a bit of sewing, yet is very simple and easy to achieve.
You will need:
2 pieces of white felt
small scraps of felt in any colour
3 buttons
2 small twigs
PVA glue
sewing needle and embroidery thread
cotton wool or other material for stuffing
Instructions:
1. Lay the two pieces of white felt together and draw a rough outline of a snowman shape. If you are not confident, use a saucer and a tea plate to make the two circle shapes.
2. Cut the shape out, holding the pieces firmly together. Lay one piece to the side as that will form the back later.
3. Cut out eyes, a scarf, a carrot shaped nose and anything else you want to decorate the snowman with from scraps of felt or fabric. Let your child stick these on using PVA glue and a paintbrush. We also used 3 buttons for the tummy, but anything will do!
4. When it has dried, start to sew around the outside of the shape using white thread.
Children aged 4+ could have a go at this themselves, using a large needle and pre-punched holes in the fabric. You can use a skewer or even a small hole punch to make thread holes.
Children aged 6+ could have a go at sewing a running stitch completely independently. The felt is very soft and quite easy to sew through. Once the stitching is nearly complete, stop and leave a 5-10 cm opening ready for stuffing.
5. Stuff the snowman with any material you have to hand, You can try using pieces of an old plastic bag, fabric scraps or newspaper. We used cotton wool balls and they were really easy to work with. Once it is stuffed, sew up the gap.
6. He is nearly complete! Now add the two twigs for arms by slightly pulling open the stitching on either side and poking them inside. We found this successful enough to keep them tightly in place, but if they are still loose then sew around them a few times to secure them, or add a dab of glue on the inside and hold down to stick together.
7. I added a loop of embroidery thread to the top of the head so that he can be hung up on the tree or over a door handle.
8. I also sewed a simple mouth using a running stitch with black embroidery thread. It is also possible to draw straight onto felt so your child could add a mouth that way, if desired, using a felt-tip pen.
Finished! A perfect little snowman ready to be displayed in pride of place on the mantlepiece in time for winter!
Anna Ranson won the MAD Blog of the Year, sponsored by Parentdish.