Easy Paper Name Sculpture For DAD

Yep, Father's Day is right around the corner, but don't fret if you haven't made Dear Old Dad a present yet...here's a fun and easy sculpture you can make for him that will look nice on his desk or toolbox (that's how the dads in our family roll). 

This project is based on one I saw on pinterest that had no destination or info--it was pretty much a picture on the internet. I've tried to do it justice, so here's my version. My early finisher students did this one day after painting some other sculptures. I'd say this project takes less than a half an hour to do if you choose an easy word like "dad."I'd love to have my students create multi-leveled sculptures with their entire names (more letters = a more exciting sculpture), but that's for another time!

Paper Name Sculpture For DAD

Supplies Needed:

• 3" x 5" index cards, white on both sides (one for each letter of the name you choose)
• Pencil
• Scissors
• Markers
• Clear Tape
• Mat Board, we used black
• Oil Pastels

Directions:

1. Draw nice, thick letters onto the index cards making them as big as you can (touching all edges of the index card, if possible). Cut out your letters with scissors.

2. Decorate both sides of each letter with markers. Use at least two colors on each side of every letter. Try using different patterns and colors for each letter--have fun!

3. Use clear tape to attach the letters to the mat board so they stand up. Make your letters touch and lean against one another, if you'd like. The more letters you have, the more elaborate your sculpture will be. You can even make your sculpture go up vertically if you have enough letters. Think of building this sculpture like you would build a house of cards with a deck of playing cards, but you can hold the letters together with clear tape (bonus!).

4. Once all of your letters are taped where you'd like them, use the oil pastels or craypas to write a message on the base such as "I Love You!" or "Dad Rocks!" The decorate the rest of the base with the oil pastels with swirls, lines, and patterns.

Now you have a colorful sculpture for Dad! Enjoy!

Some students made sculptures with their initials instead.

And this student made a sculpture for his dog, Lulu!