tutorial: guatemalen worry dolls

close up of the guatemalen worry dolls, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

(all in text though) - i did these with my first graders.

1. choose doll clothespin type (there are several styles out there which really make the face/body look different. there are also shades of the dolls too so everyone doesn't have to be caucasian!)

2. i use yarn for the hair; i put out lots of different styles for the kiddos to choose from. i stress that boys can have long hair, braids, pony tails whatever, just like the ladies can chop all the hair off if they want too.

3. after they choose the hair, make sure you know the style they are doing. ie: if kiddo wants to do braids, i loop the yarn twelve times and then tie it in a know in the middle - thus when it is hot glued onto the head, i take 2 strings each for the 3 stranded braid.

4. after they have chosen the hair & i've looped it and tied it into a knot, they choose 3 different colors of embroidery thread.

5. hot glue hair on with the knot smack dab on top of the head. have kids snip loops of yarn & then help them style whichever way they choose.

6. double knot first color of embroidery thread and start to wrap around the doll - when you get to the second color, double knot again & continue to wrap. when you get to the third color, what you do to get the X mark is wrap second string third string twice around and then pull it diagonally across 2nd band of color. wrap twice in between 1st & second color and then pull it diagonally back between 2nd & 3rd colors & then continue to wrap the third color all the way down. i smear some aileen's tacky glue on the thread to keep it from unraveling.

7. faces are done last with skinny sharpie markers.

8. tell your worry doll everything you are anxious about & stick it under your pillow. voila! worry doll does all worrying for you :)

*my favorite part of this project is having the kiddos come in the next day after getting their worry doll back & telling me how "it worked!! i told my doll all my secrets & worries last night & it worked!!!"

how great is that?!