Inspired by the Ricky Ricotta series by Dav Pilkey & illustrated by Dan Santat, I created a fun and easy craft that my daughter loved taking part in. My daughter has a wonderful imagination. She could have as much fun with dolls as she does with sticks outside, pretending she is part of a magical land of castles, princes and princesses and dragons. Though I am not the most crafty person on the planet, I racked my brain on how to tie in her love for imaginary play with these cute and fun books that she loved to read. Ricky Ricotta is a little mouse with BIG problems! Every day he is picked on by the neighborhood bullies. He lives in Squeakyville with his mother and father, and being an only mouse, he is often lonely. That is until SOMETHING BIG HAPPENS! A giant flying robot enters Ricky’s life and an unlikely friendship is born! Together, Ricky and his Robot must save the planet from a galaxy bursting with bad guys!
We came up with a great way to let her be creative, while creating her own robot adventures with this simple robot finger puppet craft. It is simple, but suprisingly enough my daughter said it was one of her most favorites, and a lot of fun to make!
Here is how we did it:
First we needed some thick paper or cardboard. Cardstock, a shoebox, an old pizza box, whatever you have that you can draw on, cut out, and has a little sturdiness to it.
First step in the drawing is to draw a square. This will be the head. You or your child can do this depending on their skill level.
Next, we need a larger square. This is the body. Make both the head and body large enough for them to decorate any way they see fit.
I added some arms to the larger square. That is about as far as your artistic skills need to go.
Have your child decorate the robot. Its better to do this before its cut out or else you will have marker all over your dinner table. Trust me.
Cut out the shape. If your child is good with scissors, have them help here too. If they aren’t it’s better that you cut it for them, they will need their fingers later in this craft.
Guess about where the holes need to be in the bottom of the robot for their fingers to fit through. Draw where you need to cut and make the round holes. At least make them as round as you can.
Have them stick their fingers through the holes and watch them go from thinking “what on earth is she doing?” to “oh my goodness she is a genius.”
Make a robot for yourself and have some awesome robotic adventures. Our robots met on another planet and explored space together, only to find out that the moon is actually made out of cotton candy! Yum!
Learn more about Ricky Ricotta below:
Here are some links to help you get to know Ricky Ricotta a little bit better!
Visit the Ricky Ricotta Official Site
Learn more about author Dav Pilkey
Follow Scholastic and ScholasticTeach on Twitter
Like Scholastic Parents and Scholastic Teachers on Facebook
Check out the Classroom Guide
View the Book Trailer
Play the Make Your Own Robot Game
Read Chapter Excerpts & a Mini-Comic Excerpt
Download the Character Cards
Check out Ricky Ricotta Printables
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