Skill Level
Beginner; Key Stage 2 (Age 7+)
Time to Make
30 minutes for 1 character + drying time for paint
Adult Supervision Needed
Yes
How to Make
- Paint the wooden people using flesh colours. Leave to dry.
- To make a robe or a long dress, cut a 10cm x 10 cm tissue paper square, fold it in half to make a rectangle then cut a small V in the middle of the folded edge. Brush glue over the wooden body then wrap the tissue paper over the glue with the V at the top.
- To make arms, cut a 10cm x 1cm strip from flesh coloured card, or paint the ends of a white strip with flesh coloured paint. Cut the ends into curves for the hands. Cut a small piece of tissue paper to match the body colour, glue it around the card strip leaving the hands uncovered. Glue the arms to the back of the body.
- Hair can be made from wool, embroidery threads of natural raffia. Glue short pieces of material onto the heads, leave to dry then trim, plait or curl into a hair shape for your characters. Make short hair from wool cut into tiny pieces then press onto a head brushed with glue.
- Glue small tissue paper strips onto the bodies for shawls, sashes and hoods. Make capes from felt or hessian and belts from thin ribbon, embroidery thread or raffia.
- Add small details to the characters using other materials. The Viking helmet is a tealight holder cut in half then curled around the head. The Roman lady has a headband made from embroidery thread with an acrylic gem.
Top Tip
There are lots of ways to make costumes and accessories for your figures.Before you start, try and find out about clothes from different periods of history to give you some ideas and details for making the characters.
Tagged with:
Story Telling
