Arts & Crafts with Missy - Paper People

Hi! My name is Missy and I’m an artist and guest blogger. When I was a kid, I read a book called The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder. In it, one of the characters cuts out people from magazines and plays with them like paper dolls. I took this idea and changed it to make it my own. I used construction paper, came up with a pattern and cut/pasted my own version. I called them Paper People. I would make dozens of Paper People families. Sometimes my sister and I would play with them, kind of like paper dolls. But mostly, I just enjoyed the creation process. I am going to teach you to make your very own Paper People. 

Supplies:

• Construction paper in a variety of colors
• Glue stick
• Black ball point pen or pencil
• Scissors
• Printed PDF pattern

Instructions:

1. Use the pattern to trace and cut out your own Paper People.
2. Decide what kind of outfit you want your Paper Person to wear.
3. For a t-shirt, lay your Paper Person on the construction paper and trace around the top half of the body. Draw the details of the shirt then cut out the shirt and glue it to your person
4. Continue making clothes and hair for your paper people. Use your glue stick to glue them to your Paper Person.
5. For the face, you can cut out eyes, nose and mouth, which can be tricky. You can also draw them. 
6. Now you have a finished Paper Person!

I absolutely love making Paper People. It’s fun to design different clothes for them. It’s fun to play with them. It’s fun to make Paper People that look like your friends and family and give them as gifts. I hope you love making them as much as I do. Have fun!

BONUS: 

Paper People can be used for the popular project called Flat Stanley, based on the book Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown.