Year of the Snake

Last year for Chinese New Year we made lanterns and dragon masks. Well, it's about time for the dragon to move on over for the snake. Sunday the 10th is Chinese New Year and the snake will reign through next January.

This project was modeled after one I did sometime around second grade. I remember that I loved making it and it actually was hanging up in my room even when I was in high school. Thinking that if I loved the project so much that my boys, one of them a huge animal lover, would be all over this. With the "Year of the Snake" coming up, I decided the timing was perfect.

Very basic supplies that you probably have sitting around already. Markers also work well (unless you pick the dried out ones like I did!). The paper plate will need to be the very basic cheap-o ones.

Using the indented circle as a template, cut out the head. When starting on the outer edge of the plate, make sure you cut at an angle, as one end will be the tail.

Either pre-fold the circle in half or just keep it flat and fold later and fill in the mouth.

On the other side give the snake some eyes and nose dots then fold in half. The head is ready to go.

Next up is the body. The bumpiness of the plate is a little hard to color on, so you can just smash it down before you start.

 You can look up various patterns snakes often have to decorate it or just wing it like we did.

 Fold up one end of the outer ring and staple to the head.

 Your snake will look something like the one on the right. You can roll it up to help it curl better.

 The longer they hang the more elongated the body will be.

The project was even more loved than I could have guessed. My animal lover asked both yesterday and today if he could make more, in addition to the two he did on his own and the one we tag teamed on. They are easy and very kid friendly to make. Options are endless.