Peg dolls are great toys: depending on the fantasy of a crafter and the materials available, they can be painted, dressed in simple felt clothes, or have paper accessories glued to them. The possibilities are endless! They are inexpensive to make and a lot of fun to design.
Once every couple of months, a pair of new peg guests appear into my son's nursery: they act as a prompt to talk about the change of seasons and bring new games along. In the spring, there were flower fairies, and in the fall we were visited by a well-meaning witch. With Christmas approaching, we are expecting new guests! Try this kids activity and enjoy the creative play that comes with it!
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What You'll need:
Take two unfinished peg dolls.
While the paint is drying, we will work on the hat. Take red felt and cut the shape as shown on the picture.
Fold the piece in half and sew the longer sides together. That will make a conical hat. Turn it right-side-out and try it on the elf.
Cut one strip of white felt and glue it to the brim of the conical hat.
Paint buttons or a belt on the coat. I used the black marker again, then added white accents with a brush.
The snowman is an easier design. Draw the sticks for his arms with the black marker.
Tie a strip of red felt with frayed ends around the snowman's neck to make a scarf. The peg dolls are ready!
What You'll need:
- two unfinished peg dolls
- acrylic paints (red and white)
- fine tip black marker
- felt (red and white)
- gel glue (like Fabri-Tac)
- needle and red thread
Take two unfinished peg dolls.
Paint one of them white. That will be a snowman. The other will become a Christmas elf, and his body should be painted red. Leave his face a natural wooden color, and paint his hair any color you want. I used a black fine-tip marker to draw black locks for my elf.
While the paint is drying, we will work on the hat. Take red felt and cut the shape as shown on the picture.
Fold the piece in half and sew the longer sides together. That will make a conical hat. Turn it right-side-out and try it on the elf.
Cut one strip of white felt and glue it to the brim of the conical hat.
Cut another strip of white felt and glue it to the wooden body like fur trim.
Paint buttons or a belt on the coat. I used the black marker again, then added white accents with a brush.
The snowman is an easier design. Draw the sticks for his arms with the black marker.
Use it for making eyes too. I imagined that the snowman's mouth and his buttons would be made with rows of ash berries, the way we did in my childhood, so they are dots left by a thin brush dipped in red paint.
Tie a strip of red felt with frayed ends around the snowman's neck to make a scarf. The peg dolls are ready!
Children will find a variety of ways to play with them, and if they would like, later you can attach an eye-hook to the snowman's head and a loop to the hat of the elf and turn them into Christmas ornaments!