There are two good reasons to spend part of a day making backpack buddies with your kid. One reason is that they are fun to make. The other reason is after you are through, your kid will love her backpack.
What is a backpack buddy?
A backpack buddy is a fun, fuzzy creature that rides on your child’s backpack. A backpack buddy has beady eyes and feathery hair. What’s more, it is easy to make.
What do you need?
There are quite a few things you will need; some you should have around the house, and some will most likely require a trip to the craft store.
You will need basic supplies like scissors and glue. You will also need
a small clip or a key chain ring. This will attach the backpack buddy to the backpack. You can also skip the clip or key chain ring and make the backpack buddy right on the backpack.
Some string. You can use nice plastic jewelry cord, or you can use dental floss or something in between. This string will attach the backpack buddy to the clip or the backpack.
A piece of foam. This is something to buy at the craft store. Foam comes in sheets and in a lot of different colors. It is also cheap—plan to pay about a dollar for a sheet. You will cut a round piece of foam out. This is the backpack buddy. Now all you need to do is add its eyes and hair.
Beady eyes. This is another item that you will probably need to purchase at a craft store. Beady eyes are also cheap. You will be able to buy a little bag full of beady eyes for around a dollar.
Feathers or fuzz. The best-looking fuzzies for the fuzzy hair are feathers from a costume boa. Look around, and see what you have that might make a nice hairpiece for your buddy’s buddy. You might glue on yarn to make hair, or you might use the fake grass left over from the Easter basket. Just look through your junk; there are any number of things that you can glue on to your backpack buddy to make the hair.
• To begin you should trace a circle about two inches in diameter. The circle can be any size, just find something round and about the right size and trace it onto the piece of foam.
• Next, you cut out the circle. The bigger the circle, the easier it will be to cut.
• Stab or cut a whole in the top of the circle.
• Run the string through the whole.
• Glue the eyes onto the foam circle. You will want to use craft glue to make sure the eyes stay stuck to the plastic.
• Glue the hair on. Try out different looks before you commit to gluing on the hair. The hair is the most important part and gives your kid’s buddy its personality.
• Wait for all the glue to dry. You can start working on a second buddy (cause every buddy needs a buddy) while the first one dries.
• After the glue is dry, attach the string to your clip or keychain ring. You can also attach directly to the backpack. There are advantages and disadvantages of this. The child is less likely to lose the backpack buddy, but he also won’t be able to trade it with other kids.
After you have the buddies made, have your child name them. The more your kid likes her buddies, the more she will like her backpack, and the more she likes her backpack, the less likely she is to lose it.
Just having a buddy makes school, homework, and all of the academic stuff a little bit more fun.