Make Your Own Stick Man (from recycled items)

Looking for a Stick Man craft to accompany the classic storybook by Julia Donaldson? This simple craft is perfect for all ages to create, & ideal for encouraging imaginative play, storytelling & more. Not only is this story prop cute, but he's also eco-friendly as he's made from just one recycled item, making him a fun & frugal craft to make.


"Stick Man" by Julia Donaldson is one of our favourite books, the beautiful rhyming narrative appeals to all ages (including adults) & coupled together with Axel Scheffler's fabulously detailed illustrations it's one of those storybooks you want to read again & again. 

To accompany the book we created this super simple Stick Man made from an old cardboard box! We started by flattening out our box & cutting a section of the corrugated cardboard (approx 30cm x 30cm) which we rolled loosely & secured with tape to create a body for our Stick Man. Then to give our Stick Man some hair we cut into one end of the rolled card (a neat opportunity to practise those scissor skills) & folded these sections in various directions.


To create arms for our Stick Man we cut shorter lengths of card & rolled these tightly, securing them again with sticky tape.


Stick Man's nose was made in the same way, but we just used a smaller section of cardboard. 
When making this craft with preschoolers you may want to have the cardboard pre-cut & rolled so it's quicker & simpler for them to construct their own Stick Man.


To give Stick Man his distinctive big eyes we drew circles onto white card & glued these on. We used a sharpie to create his facial features & fill in his eye detail. 


Next, we needed to attach Stick Man's nose & arms to the body, so using a biro we carefully pushed it through the cardboard to create a hole below the eyes, & holes either side of the body for the arms. To make the holes slightly bigger we used a pair of children's scissors & twisted them into the holes until we had the desired shape for the arms & nose to slot snuggly into. (Obviously, an adult would help preschoolers with this part of the activity.) 

To finish our Stick Man we added a little branch with a couple of leaves, made from the cardboard & a scrap of green paper left from a previous craft. We attached this with a little sticky tape & stuck inside the roll of cardboard. 


Now our Stick Man was ready for new adventures, new tales to tell, & new friends to be found.


I shared this craft recently with a group children with mixed ages & abilities & they LOVED making their own Stick Man! The preschoolers loved carrying their Stick Man around & talking to him, while the older children (6-10yrs) were designing play setups for their Stick Man & creating elaborate adventures for him. So much language & imagination was being shared with this simple story prop, & I loved how each Stick Man was different, each having their own personality & style! There are so many learning opportunities that can be explored with this simple Stick Man craft, & when he's not being played with, he becomes a bookend for your bookshelf. ♥


Looking for more Storybook Crafts? Click on the "Storytelling" tab at the top of our page for oodles of fun book-themed crafts & activities.