 
We're making sock bunnies. This is an Easter project, but could be used any time, just for fun. White socks could be used for snowmen, or brown ones for bears, or black for skunks. Use your imagination.You'll need a sock (preferably clean, but if you're making skunks, used unwashed ones might be a creative embellishment). You'll also want lots of rice, some small elastics, markers, ribbons, and large plastic cups. You might also need some fast-drying glue.  
The first step is to fill the bottom third of the sock with rice, and tie it off with an elastic, as shown at the left.There are various ways of getting the rice into the sock without making a mess; one way might be to have students work in pairs and use a funnel. We chose to stuff the sock into the bottom of a plastic cup and peel the top of the sock back over the rim of the cup, as our instructor is demonstrating at the right. Then you can pour the rice right into the sock. Wrap it tightly with an elastic, right above the body.  
Next we need to make a head. This means filling the sock with more rice above the elastic, using less than last time so the head will be smaller than the body. Once again, you could do this with a funnel, but we chose to use the plastic cup again. Stuff the filled bottom of the sock into the cup, and peel the top of the sock sock back over the cup rim. Now you can pour rice directly into the sock. Remember: less than last time!  
Once again, tie off the second rice-filled part with a tightly wrapped elastic, as shown in the picture on the left. Once that's done, you should have a body, a slightly smaller head, and the rest of the sock flopping above that, which will be the ears. See the picture at the right.If you used an elastic here that was too big or wide and it shows, don't worry ... the ribbon will hide that. Some people chose not to tie an elastic above the head, but tied the ears instead. We'll show that below. By the way, if you're making a bear or skunk, you can disguise the elastics by painting them with a dark brown or black permanent marker. If your animal is like a skunk and has a big tail, you could reverse what we've done so far, by making the first ball smaller than the second. Then the left-over piece of sock will become the tail! 
For a bunny, cut down the centre of the remaining sock to make two large floppy ears.For a bear, don't do that. Instead, cut off most of the sock above the elastic; just leave enough to fold back onto the head. Glue it in place. Then pull out and away from the rice two small sections of sock on either side of the head, and tie them off with small elastics. Ears! If the left-over sock is a tail, don't cut it at all; instead, stuff it with something soft like cotton balls and sew up the end. Use your imagination.  
Back to our bunny! Tie some fancy ribbon at the base of the ears and at his waist to give him a festive look. You can see our instructor being all festive at the left.Now add some eyes and a nose with a marker. If you can find a corn broom, remove a few strands and stick them beside the nose as whiskers. Have a look at some finished bunnies below. 
|
