Homemade Hobby Horse - Ride 'Em Cowboy!

Background:
Somehow my little ones got a hold of 2 wrapping paper tubes.  I'm not sure where the wrapping paper went, but my 4 & 18 month old were having tons of fun riding their witch's broom and pony; and when I told my son I could make the tube into a pony he was ready to craft! That's how this impromptu craft started.

Age: 2-6 years

Time:  15-30 minutes + play time

Mess/Cleanup:  It's a little messy with the glue and the yarn pieces.  Maybe a 3 out of 10 on a messy scale.

What You Need: Scissors, Construction Paper, Googly Eyes, Wrapping Paper Tube, Marker, Glue or Glue Stick
Substitutions:

• Felt instead of paper
• Draw eyes instead of googly eyes
• Stapler instead of glue
• Shredded or crinkly paper instead of yarn

Why I Like This Craft: Again, I like this toy because it can be tossed if it gets ruined.  It also gives me another use for those wrapping paper tubes!  I'm sure my kids will play with this for a few days and forget about.  I'll probably toss the horse head and save the tube for future projects.

The Stuff: Cute Kid, Paper, Yarn, Googly Eyes, Glue, Scissors, Wrapping Paper Tube

How to Make This:

1. Draw a "L" shape on the paper.  It kind of looks like a stocking. 

2. Cut out 2 shapes.  This will make the both sides of the horses head.  Also cut out 2 shapes to resemble the horse's ears.
3. Cut out strands of yarn about 6 inches long.  My son loved this part!

4. With one "L" piece, run a bead of glue on the side of the paper that would be the horse's neck and arrange pieces of yarn on the glue so they hang to the outside of the paper.  When you're done placing all of the yarn pieces, run another bead of glue over the yarn and the perimeter of the "L", leaving space at the base of the 'neck' so you can insert the tube in a later step.

5. Squish or sandwich the second "L" piece on top of the glue (another favorite part for my 4 year old).
6. Add the googly eyes, ears, mouth.

7. Insert the wrapping paper tube at the base of the horse's neck.  I didn't glue the head to the tube. I think it would be too messy and this way we can make a variety of interchangeable "heads".

Amp It Up!  If my sewing machine wasn't on the fritz, I would seriously consider sewing all of these pieces to make a Mommy-craft.  I can't imagine it being that hard.  Just sew some felt pieces, lots of yarn for the mane, fill the head with stuffing, wrap an old broom stick with ribbon or just wrap the tube with ribbon.  I think you can't go wrong!

Enjoy!
-Rose
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