Shape Banjo!
There is a guitar store in our local mall and all I have to do to keep my son happy is to tell him that we are going to take a trip to see the guitars and banjos and he is calm (for the most part). The last banjo was recently sold and he was crushed. He still shows me where it hung in the store saying, "No more banjo, someone took it." To appease his loss, we made one.
1. Gather your materials. You will need construction paper, a cereal box, a marker, glue, scissors, tape, and 2 pipe cleaners.
2. Start by drawing the following shapes on your construction paper. We used all different colors but there is no reason to follow our lead, do whatever you wish! A large circle, a rectangle, a square, 4 small triangles, and a smaller circle (not shown).
3. Trace the shapes on the piece of cardboard. We did this because we wanted a sturdy banjo for my son to play with. If you are just making one to display you could simply glue it on paper and not worry about tracing and shape matching.
4. Add glue.
5. Start adding the shape pieces.
6. Keep going!
7. Let dry.
8. When the banjo is dry, cut it out.
9. Poke two holes in the neck and two in the circle.
10. Thread your pipe cleaners through both and bend them towards the back. Tape them down.
11. Voilà!
Allison McDonald
has been teaching young children in various capacities since 1993. She started as a day camp leader in high school, taught various preschool programs at community centers through university, worked as a tutor while pursuing a second degree in elementary education, and most recently worked as a director and preschool teacher before becoming a full time mom. Now that she is at home she keeps one foot in education while sharing that side of her life with her son and the results have been amazing.