Chinese Dragons...FINALLY...

We have been studying Chinese New Year

over the past couple of weeks,

with the assistance of several

books and movies from the library.

Hopefully I will get to post them later,

but for now I would like to share a craft

we have been working on 

to celebrate the

Year of the Dragon...

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To create this dragon,

we used the following items:

Egg carton tops, cut in equal halves

Paints

Paint brushes/sponges

Disposable plates 

Paper towels

Push pin

Brads

Glue

Paint pens

A variety of decorative items,

including lids and foam shapes

Hole punch

Ribbons and yarn

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This is a craft that could be completed

in a day,

but we stretched it out over several...

First...

...we got the paint ready...

...and painted the outside of the egg cartons...

...to create the "skins" for our dragons.

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After letting the cartons dry...

...we painted the inside of the cartons red...

...to create the inside...

 ...of the dragons' mouths.

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When the insides were dry,
I put the to carton halves together to complete
the heads.

I did this by using...

...a push pin to create a small hole

on each side of the carton.

Then...

...I put the brads in...

...to put together the two halves.

This created a hinged head,
which has really added to the kiddos' play...

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The kiddos then got into...

...my lid stash to create eyes for their dragons.

They also used glue, foam shapes, and paint pens

to decorate their dragon heads.

Here they are,
drying and awaiting their "tails"...

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To create the"tails"...

...the kiddos each chose ribbons...

...which I poked through punched holes
at the back-bottom of the dragon head.

After poking the ribbon through the holes...

...I tied them together in a knot
to keep them secured.

Jungle Girl wanted to create a little different
effect with her dragon tail...

...so she tied yarn to the hole in this fashion...

...and then tied on her ribbons to the yarn,
creating a more "scaly" effect.

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Finally,
every dragon needs horns,
so we took sections of...

...pipe cleaners and wrapped them around
a finger to create a curly effect.

We them glued them...

...to the back of the dragon's head.

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Here is a better view of the completed project:

Front

Back

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And now,

if you would kindly humor us,

 we would like to introduce you 

to our new playmates:

Baby Girls'
"Wang-Chung"

Little Wild Man's

"Toothless"

and Jungle Girl's
"Fang-Fong"

R-O-A-R!!!

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Linking up
over at the

History and Geography Meme

by

All Things Beautiful...