Kid's Activity: Let's Make Beanie Pals!

by Melissa Jaramillo and Julie Snyder

These are a family favorite and provide a use for those old single socks you have lying around that long lost their mates!

Materials Needed:

• Old socks (any color!)
• Yarn
• Google eyes (may substitute buttons)
• Fabric paints or markers
• Fabric scraps (optional)
• Dried beans

Fill sock with beans up to heel. Tie tightly with yarn or ribbon. Now you are ready to give your beanie pal its own personality! Will it be an animal, a person, or just a silly creature? Glue or sew on yarn for hair. For "girl" beanies, you can tie hair with ribbons for an extra touch! Paint or draw on lips. Sew or glue on eyes. You can even add material scraps to "dress" your doll.

For households with very young children, craft stuffing or pieces of quilt batting can be substituted for beans. Then there is no concern should the sock pal spring a leak.

Have more socks? Make this a real household project, creating your own zoo, farm, or "family". See what types of characters you and your family can come up with!

Julie Snyder is a mom of six, interested in kids, pregnancy, birth, people and lives in the outlying Seattle area. Melissa Jaramillo is mom to many. She's passionate about building, encouraging, and strengthening families on this adventure known as parenthood!

Copyright © Melissa Jaramillo and Julie Snyder. Permission to republish granted to Pregnancy.org, LLC.