My daughter had a school assignment to make a Pilgrim or Indian out of a toilet paper tube this week so I decided to turn it into a weekend craft with a friend's kids I was babysitting. I found these adorable Thanksgiving people via an internet search and made a few myself to share with you and for the kids to use as examples. After we made the figures, the kids came up with an idea to make a Thanksgiving play and it kept them entertained for hours. You can also make these to use as decorations for your Thanksgiving table.
Materials needed:
- toilet paper tubes
- construction paper (I used black, brown, yellow, tan and white)
- scissors
- glue
- colored markers
- googly eyes (optional)
What to do:
- Cover the top 1/3 of the tube with neutral colored construction paper for the figures' head/face using glue.
- Cover bottom 2/3 of the tube with colored construction paper for your characters' clothes. I used brown for the Indian and black for the Pilgrims. Glue in place and allow to dry.
- Meanwhile, cut a yellow or black piece of paper for the hair. It should cover all the way around the top part of the tube, leaving the face area uncovered. You can choose the length and color of the hair and can even cut out bangs. Cut fringe along the bottom of the paper to look like strands of hair (you can roll around a pencil to curl the bottoms if you'd like). Glue hair in place.
- Cut out and glue on accessories to decorate the figures, such as collars for the Pilgrims and an apron for the girl, headband and feathers for the Indian. My daughter enjoyed making a plate of corn and a turkey for the figures to carry.
- Use colored markers to draw on the face and decorations and use googly eyes if desired.
- The Pilgrim girl's bonnet was made out of a 2in by 5in piece of white paper, wrapped around the top of the tube, overlapping and glued to the back of the tube. The Pilgrim boy's hat is made of two pieces: a circle larger than the circumference of the tube and a rectangle piece rolled into a tube shape, with slits cut on the bottom and folded in to glue to the center of the circle. I then distributed school glue along the top edge of the tube to glue the hat onto the figure and added the band and buckle for decorations.
Here's a picture of the whole clan we made....
And the kids putting on the Thanksgiving play for the parents...
