This was another activity from our literacy art project last Summer.

Many of the projects we did with the children were decided before we even got the books from the library.

This idea however, came to me while browsing the library.

I was looking for more ideas to put into this series and I found this book I Had a Favorite Dress while looking through the shelves of books. It made me think of the  all about me montages I’ve done a few times with the kids which always turn out to be winners.

This group was a bunch of little girls and the focus was dressing their own paper little girl with all of the different materials and fabrics that I supplied.

I’ve seen in the past that they do need some sort of structure so I gave them a template like the one below to work on.

After we read the book a few times they were able to create their own girls with their own dresses.

Many of these younger girls need a lot of hand holding when creating their dresses.

I show them the different materials there are, ask them what kind of dress they want to make, and help them figure out how to measure the size they will need. Sometimes the material is hard to cut and they may need help with someone holding the material as they cut.

I also show them the other materials available like buttons, sequins and yarn and we talk about what they can do with those as well.

Some of course, better than others.

Picasso is definitely in style with this young lady

as with this one as well.

The bottom line is that the younger the children are, the more cubist their art work comes out looking. 🙂

This is one of those great projects that can be done with all ages, or even each year with the same children.

Keep their art work and you will be amazed at how sophisticated they start dressing them as they mature.