Color Camp Summer Craft Series: Fruit Friends Paper Dolls

 

BY KATHY BEYMER
  Merriment Design

Welcome to Color Camp! ASTROBRIGHTS® Paper asked me to create a series of summer crafts that kids and parents can make together.

Over the next four weeks, we’ll create a colorful and imaginative Farmers Market Stand Playset inspired by our neighborhood’s weekly farmers market.

Each week, I’ll bring you a new craft to add to your playset…

Week 1: Fruit friends paper dolls

Week 2: Market stand from a upcycled milk or juice carton

Week 3: Fruit and veggies to sell at the stand

Week 4: Pretend money

My farmers market summer craft not only sparks creativity but also encourages imaginative play and learning. Crafting helps kids practice their fine motor skills, focus and concentration, and most importantly, boosts confidence! 

Week 1: Fruit Friends Paper Dolls

Let’s kick off Week 1 of Color Camp by making cheerful fruit friends. These cuties will become our market stand employees and customers. I’ve designed lots of friends for you to make: Avocado, Strawberry, Blueberry, Lemon, and Watermelon. Choose your favorites or make them all!

This is an easy craft for preschoolers and elementary-aged kids. Start by printing my templates onto ASTROBRIGHTS cardstock paper. Then cut and glue the pieces together and draw faces with a black marker. Finally, help your new friends stand so they can enjoy the farmers market.

Supplies for Fruit Friends:

• Kathy's printable Fruit Friends template (PDF)
• Astrobrights® Spectrum Cardstock and Astrobrights® Naturals Cardstock 
• Good Paper Scissors
• Glue Stick
• Black Marker

How to make the Fruit Friends:

Step 1: Download my printable template and print onto ASTROBRIGHTS cardstock. Here are the colors that I used for each friend:

Lemon: Solar Yellow™, Lift-Off Lemon™, Galaxy Gold™

Watermelon: Pulsar Pink™, Plasma Pink™, Martian Green™, Gamma Green™

Blueberry: Blast-Off Blue™, Venus Violet™, Lunar Blue™, Celestial Blue®

Strawberry: Re-Entry Red™, Rocket Red™, Gamma Green™

Avocado: Gamma Green™, Martian Green™, Terra Green™, Vulcan Green™, Grocer Kraft

Step 2: Have kids cut out the pieces using good paper scissors. This step gives kids good practice with hand-eye coordination, patience, and perseverance.

Step 3: Glue the pieces together using a glue stick and let them dry. I recommend starting by adding the complementary color to each fruit friend and then accessories such as stems and seeds. Let dry.

Step 4: Draw smiling faces onto the friends using a black marker.

Step 5: Fold the stand in half. Glue one side of the stand to the back of each friend and let dry.

Kids can go ahead and start pretending with their new fruit friends this week. Next week, we’ll create their farmer’s market stand so be sure to save a milk or juice carton from your recycling bin.

See you next week at Color Camp for s'more crafty fun!

Be sure to see more of my paper crafts for ASTROBRIGHTS paper including my S’mores Campfire Playset, Tent Camping Playset, Paper Bead Jewelry, Geometric Dinosaur birthday party, Upcycled Paper Vases, Family Birthstone Birthmarks, and many more.

Kathy Beymer

Instagram: @kathybeymer

Pinterest: @merrimentdesign