Sticky paper scarecrows

As I mentioned in my previous post, I had a request by one of my Pre-K students to make scarecrows in our classroom.  I asked around a bit and hunted around a bit for a scarecrow that my students could really make on their own and take home. Mrs. Courtney and I even sat down one afternoon and contemplated how to make a scarecrow and this is how we came up with sticky paper scarecrows…

We were very excited when one of our parents donated a bag of burlap in different colors and realized that our students could actually cut the burlap without our help. Burlap is a nice stiff fabric that young children can hold and manipulate and cut without it getting all bunched up…

 And we also selected to set out thick yarn so the children could cut the yarn by themselves as well…

Setting up and navigating our sticky paper scarecrow stations

We set out our thick yarn, the burlap, and the good kid scissors at our scarecrow cutting station…

At the second station we set out markers and construction paper circles for the children to make their scarecrow heads and faces…

At the third station, we set out individual pieces of clear contact paper.  We prepared the contact paper by cutting it in to large rectangles then drawing a large “t” shape for the “sticks” or scarecrow bodies.  We had already talked about how scarecrows start off as simple sticks in our circletime earlier that morning…

After reading our morning scarecrow story, I took a few extra minutes explaining to the children how to use each station to build their scarecrows…

Then the children were sent off to get started on making their very own scarecrows.  The children rotated from station to station gradually putting their scarecrows together.  Some of the children spent a long time at the cutting station exploring all the wonderful yarn and burlap…

And every child made their own scarecrow face at the scarecrow head and face making station…

As each child arrived at the scarecrow sticky paper station, I helped them remove the back of the sticky paper and set their sticky paper, sticky side up, on the table (I held on to the sticky paper by the way so it wouldn’t get all stuck together)….

Then the children began by adding their heads to the top of the “sticks”…

And then the children went back and forth gathering up their pieces of fabric and yarn to dress their sticky paper scarecrows…

If a child felt he or she needed to cut up more yarn, they were welcome to go back to the cutting station and gather up what they needed…

The children worked all throughout the morning cutting, designing, and rotating to all the stations as they put together their scarecrows…

And as each child decided their sticky paper scarecrow was complete, Mrs. Courtney or I stuck the scarecrow to the window…

Every scarecrow was unique and every child did a wonderful job following through on our elaborate set up for making our very own scarecrows…

Simpy beautiful!!

And quite unique!

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Deborah J Stewart

Deborah J Stewart

Every time I think I know everything I need to know about teaching young children, God says, "Hold on a minute!" and gives me a new challenge.

Let me tell ya...

With each new challenge that you overcome, you will find yourself better equipped and more passionate about teaching young children.

God didn't call wimps to lead, teach, or care for His children. Nope, he has high expectations, so get ready. You will have to give your very best but after teaching for over 30 years, I can tell you that it is a wonderful and rewarding journey.

Whenever your calling feels hard, just remember, 'He who began a good work in you (and in the children you serve) will be faithful to complete it.'

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