Art Basics

Create Your Own Crayon Character Puppet

 

To celebrate National Crayon Day on March 31st, students can read “The Day the Crayons Quit” by Drew Daywait and construct a crayon character stick puppet. They can also write an original story about their favorite crayon color. This colorful project combines the students’ creative writing and visual art skills.

A Hand Drawing on a Bond Paper Using Green Colored Crayon
Image by Cup of Couple, via Pexels

Materials:

Assortment of strips of colored construction paper, Crayola Pointed Tip Scissors, 8 large wooden Popsicle sticks, four lined index cards and a bottle of Crayola Washable School Glue

Directions:

  1. To prepare for this lesson, have available 6 different copies of the crayon letters from the picture book “The Day the Crayons Quit” by Drew Daywalt. Place these copies on top of a crayon bowl at each table, with 4 sheets of white drawing paper.
  2. Guide the students through the book “The Day the Crayons Quit” by reading the first page, and having a student at each table lead a character reading of the crayon’s letter to Duncan. The teacher sets up the action: “Duncan is about to draw, but there are loud voices coming from his crayon bowl.” What is going on? Allow time for discussion; then continue reading the story in the same way.
  3. After the story, pass out crayons and white paper to students. Ask the students to use the paper to draw a stage for their crayon conversations. It can include all the things that are drawn with their crayon character that they have selected, or a place, like their classroom, or at the Crayola factory where the crayons are made.
  4. Students can then begin drawing their crayon characters. Start with the triangular top, make the body, add arms, legs, hands, feet, and a face. They can then give their crayon a name based on the color. Example: “Vivian Vivid Violet”
  5. Students select a strip of construction paper to draw their crayon characters, cut out and glue them to the Popsicle sticks to make a crayon puppet. Make a masking tape “X” to secure the stick while glue dries.
  6. Students will then make the stage by making a vertical trifold of their stage drawings created earlier in this activity.
  7. Allow time for students to write their original crayon plays.
  8. Have the students share their dialogue and letters at their tables with each other. 

“Conversations with Crayons.”