Helping in the Grandkids Classes

As a young mother I always felt it was my duty to help in my children's classrooms. Teachers can always use a helping hand and I was glad to spend time supporting them and my little learners. As a "Grammy" I started helping out in my Grandson's kindergarden class, and my Granddaughters 2nd grade class. One way I was able to help my grandson's teacher was to make him a costume for his class play. But, I am getting a little ahead of my story.

Each year the Kindergarden classes prepare plays of favorite children's books and present them to the whole school and their families. His group selected the book "The Rainbow Fish" by Marcus Pfister. If you don't have this book in your library it is a wonderful addition. It teaches children about sharing, being kind, and that by giving of ourselves to others, we gain so much in return. Here is a link to the book and a review if you are interested.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/766020.The_Rainbow_Fish

The girls in the group were given the assignment to be "the fish" in the story, and the two boys were assigned the parts of the "octopus", and the "starfish". My grandson was assigned the role of the starfish and I was excited to figure out how to make a fun, easy costume whose texture and dimension could be seen from the stage. The first thing I did was google "starfish" and copied some of the pictures to my phone and reviewed them with him. Who knew that he definitely had an idea of what type of starfish he wanted to be! Here is the one he had in mind and selected.

Next we discussed our options over lunch and then went to the fabric/craft store together. (They might as well help plan any costume- or they may not be excited to wear it!). We looked at all of the possible fabric choices- it had to be an "orangish" or "tanish" color and slightly stiff. Finally we agreed on a "tanish" colored felt. The next dilemma was how to give it dimension for the stage. We went into the craft area scanning for possibilities. Finally we agreed upon a bag of wooden beads of various sizes in brown/tan tones. I also bought some "super fabric adhesive" to glue the beads on the felt and a sea sponge.

Before we had left his school that morning we made a trip down to the "teacher's workroom" where he was fascinated with the rack holding various colors of butcher paper. We tore off two (in case I messed up the first one) pieces of white paper, approximately as tall as his body, rolled them up and carefully placed them in the back of the car.

With supplies in hand we raced back home to get started on our project. First I laid a piece of butcher paper on the floor and had him lay on his back with arms outstretched and legs about 6" apart. I then drew a star shape around his arms, two points straddling his legs and for the top point, I fashioned a "hat" for his head. Once the drawing was was configured to my liking, I cut it out of the felt, putting the fold on the top of the arms.

I sewed the front and back together beginning under the arms, leaving openings for his hands to stick out, then down the sides a ways, but leaving the bottom completely open so he could easily walk. Then I cut an oblong hole in the middle for the neck and a slit halfway down the back so he could step into the costume. I sewed 6 inches of bias tape to each side of the neck-opening (in the back) to tie it together and then just sewed around the sides and top of the "hat", leaving the bottom open.

Taking a "sea sponge" I purchased at the craft store, I dipped it in white paint and patted a lacy design all over the front of the costume. Once dry, the fun part began as we randomly scattered the wooden beads across the front and glued them in place where ever they happened to be. We let it dry overnight and..... What do you think?

The Rainbow Fish says- "I really am beautiful. Why doesn't anybody like me?"
The Starfish answers- "I can't answer that for you, but if you go beyond the coral reef to a deep cave you will find the wise octopus. Maybe he can help you."

A pretty good looking starfish if I do say so myself!