Monday 30 July 2012

Make your own Olympic inspired mascot

At our church summer holiday club "Noah's Ark @St Nics" today we looked at mascots.

We drew our own mascots, made some with junk modelling materials and created some mascot toys out of old squares of material and buttons. It was a huge amount of fun and all the kids created something individual to them.

Everyone kept asking where the idea and plan for the mascot toys came from; I kept saying telling them it was a crazy formulation of my own mind. Well in case anyone else wants a go, here is how to make your own.

Materials:
- squares of old fabric or old socks, gloves or tights
- soft toy stuffing
- needle and thread
- old buttons

Instructions:
- lay your square of fabric on the table
- put a wodge* of stuffing in the centre of the square
- bring together two of the opposite corners and knot twice
- bring together the other two opposite corners and knot over the top of the first knot
- choose where the face of the mascot should be eg on the knots or with the knots as hair or with the knots as feet etc
- sew on buttons for eyes, noses and any other features

*technical term

I am no creative whizz and my sewing skills are virtually non existent; that tells you how easy these are to make. They really appealed to the kids; being a cross between a mascot and a moshi monster - hence monster mascots.

Look at the varied creations the kids made, from frogs and pigs, to rabbits and parrots and some lovely fish and mice. I love them.