Fine Arts
- Create a toy that you would like to have. It could be a doll, action figure, board game, or other item. Determine a reason why this a a toy that is worth creating.
Social Studies/Math
- Who was O.O. Howard?
- Describe the history of Sandra Blake’s alma mater? What does alma mater mean?
- If you had a product like Sandra’s dolls, how would you go about making your product known to as many people as possible?-Find out what activities you would need to do in order to start your own business in South Carolina? What kind of business would you like to start?
Activity for 4K, Kindergarten and First grade
Introduce the calendar page of Sandra M. Blake and read her bio. Read the books about doll making and how different dolls were made in the South
Art Center: Most young children love soft dolls to cuddle, love. Finding one that is sturdy enough to take all the love a child can dish out as well as being washable can be hard. Why not design and make one for your child. As your child gets older they will appreciate that it was stitched with love, and care just for them.
Choose a soft, washable fabric such as terrycloth, or lightweight denim. Depending upon the finished size you will need about a quarter yard of material. You will also need stuffing, you can either purchase a good quality polyester fill, or save pantyhose, cut into small pieces to stuff your doll with. The amount you will need will again depend upon the finished size, and how stiff you want to make the doll. Remember though most children prefer stuffed dolls that are soft and squishy.
You will need to cut two circular pieces for the head, and four rectangles for the arms, as well as two rectangles for the body. The rectangles for the body should be about twice the width of the ones for the limbs. The limb rectangles should be about 1 1/2 times as long as the diameter of the head. The exact measurements don't really matter, as long as you and your child hare happy with the finished size.
Start by stitching the two circular headpieces together, wrong sides together, except for about a two inch opening that will become the neck. Turn the pieces inside out and stitch again, This will help insure that your masterpiece will not come apart no matter how much your child hugs, and cuddles the doll. Turn again and mark the facial features. You can either embroider the facial features on, or use a fabric paint to mark them. Fabric paint will last longer under a child's tender loving care though, so do take that into consideration when planning.
Stitch the limbs and body parts using the same double seam technique that you used for the head, remembering to leave a small opening for stuffing. When stitching the limbs and body round the corners gently to create a rounded effect.
To create hands and feet on the doll, stuff a small segment at the end of the limbs and use a double line of stitching to hold it in place. Stuff half of the remaining length and double stitch to create knee and elbow joints. Finish by stitching the ends of each piece closed. When stuffing the body use a little less stuffing so that it is softer this will cause the limbs to flop more.
Now assemble the pieces to create the doll. Hair can be stitched on by hand. Don't leave the hair to long since they young children do put everything in their mouths. Loops are usually better, it will give your child a way to grab hold of the doll. If you want to dress your doll so that your child can practice dressing and undressing the doll, remember to make the clothing loose and easy to remove.
Home Living Center: Put different kinds of dolls in the home living center. Talk about different roles that family members have. Talk about different cultures that families come from. ( Social Studies Standards) Read books that depict different families from areas. Add bubbles to the water table so the children can wash the babies. Make sure to link the science and Physical Development and Heath Standards to this activity. Add measuring cups and pitchers to the water table to add a mathematical thinking activity to this activity
Use the Block Center to build houses for the doll families using measuring, comparing, and prediction math skills.
Reading and writing center: Provide lots of different literacy materials such as pencils, markers, crayons, colored pencils and paper so that the children can write about the dolls that they have created. They can write about the homes that they have built or the experiences at the baby washing table or Home living center. Writing materials such always be in all of the centers and encouraged by the adults to be used to record their thinking.
