Skunks!!!

Here is an easy craft I that my kids did with me this summer.  My teaching partner and I are planning a nocturnal animals unit for this fall and I have been toying with the idea of making 3D skunks.  My daughter's Littlest Pet Shop skunk was the inspiration for this activity.

You will need:
black chenille stems
white chenille stems
black and white acrylic paint
clay or dough
googly eyes (optional)

Step 1:  Make the tail.

    

Cut the chenille stems in half so that you have sections with 2 puffier parts in each.   Bend one white and one black stem slightly in half. 

          

Hook the chenille stems together and then wrap the white stem around the black.  

          

Bend all the ends towards each other.

   

Twist the loose ends around each other and bend and fluff to create your tail.

Step 2: Make the body.

We used simple salt dough but you could use any air dry clay or dough.  We rolled a little ball of dough into a teardrop shape and flattened it on the bottom.  We pinched the clay to create the ears.  Finally we used a pencil to poke a hole in the skunks backside where the tail will go.

 


Step 3: Paint

When the clay was completely dry we painted the entire body black.  When the black paint was dry we painted the white stripe, glued on the eyes and added the tail.




This is my daugher's skunk.



How awesome would it be if they really smelled???   I'm considering a nice smelling essential oil or maybe just a smelly sticker on the bottom...