I thought up this project for the Cub pack my husband runs!
Corrected spelling soon to follow!
Needed:
1) At least one loo roll innard (you know the cardboard tube bit) per child, uncrushed or falling to bits etc…
2) Some A4 sheets of coloured paper – we used paper that was closer to sugar paper (the stuff schools use for mounting artwork and poems!) than printing or drawing paper. Again you will need at least one sheet per child.
3) Christmas stickers, ie the type for labelling presents – we got a big sheet of these from our local pound shop!
4) PVA glue
5) Paint brushes/glue applicators
6) Old yoghurt pots or equivalent for the glue – we use empty mini trifle pots
7) Ribbon or coloured cord – we used metallic parcel string from Tesco’s that I bought years ago
8) Scissors – preferably crinkle cut or the like
9) Sellotape
10) Decorations – we got some Christmas table sprinkles which included nice metallic Christmas trees and snowflakes, and I used some of the paper shapes I had punched myself!
11) Cracker pulls (not sure what the correct term is – these can be tricky to get when it’s not December but I will try and list a supplier at some point for you all). We didn’t use these as I didnt have time to go to the shops – some parents can also be a bit iffy about their little darlings being near explosives etc…. The kids made the crackers as a present/decoration instead of as functioning cracker.
For inside the cracker:
We made some bead bracelets with them but we were planning to print some jokes, and if there had been time we would have got them to make hats etc… The scope is endless!
Step 1:
Get things ready – we poured the glue into its pots and had a conveyor belt type system for the kids with separate tables for bracelet-making and paper cutting and gluing etc…
Cut a template piece of ribbon or cord – make sure that it will be long enough for little fingers to be able to tie a bow in!
Step 2:
Get the child to choose which colour they want – then to cut some sort of fancy border on the short sides of the paper, ie if it was in portrait then the top and bottom of the sheet of paper should be cut. We did wavy, zigzag or they can just use crinkle cut scissors!
Step 3:
Lay the loo roll on the sheet of paper with the long axis aligned to the long axis of the paper, ie lay the paper lengthways/landscape with the loo roll running lengthways on it. Cut a piece of sellotape and wrap it back on itself, making a sticky loop. Alternatively, just buy some double-sided tape.
Roll the loo roll innard up in the paper sheet and secure the sheet with the tape. You do this by putting the tape loop onto the underside of the bit of the paper that ends up on top.
You should now (if you can follow my dodgy instructions!) have a loo roll innard inside of a larger tube made of the coloured paper.
Step 4:
Put a Christmas sticker on the join and make sure the loo roll innard is in the centre of the cracker. If you are putting a snapper in, this is when to do it! Cut two lengths of ribbon, then gather the overhanging paper at one end of the loo roll innard and tie ribbon or cord around it. You can now put the goodies such as jokes etc… in the cracker!
Step 5:
Gather the remaining end up and tie ribbon or cord around it.
Step 6:
Release the children with the glue and glitter and other decorations! Make sure you leave adequate time for the glue to dry before they have to take them anywhere!
I realise that this is not the clearest set of instructions ever – but I will at some point in the future get around to creating a set of laminated instruction cards (hopefully before next year!).
