A few weeks back I told you how I loved playing pirate when I was little, it involved slithering around the floor on a blanket. Another favorite childhood pastime: creating full-scale vaudeville productions—or at least they felt full-scale to us.
My neighborhood posse and I would spend hours creating a slew of acts—musical, comedic, acrobatic, dramatic—selling tickets (okay, “distributing”), building sets (stacked moving boxes covered with paper), and coming up with elaborate costumes (my sister’s makeup drawer was pretty awesome). It was just good old plain fun.
Was your child born to perform? This next Boredom Buster—inspired by my own childhood love for staging—is for her. Take the lead—I’m not talking Dance Moms here, just a little friendly inspiration—and encourage your child to gather her friends and put together a show-stopping circus performance.
Of course everyone loves to clown around. Juggling, spinning, balancing. For a clown outfit, dress your child in a pair of adult pajamas stuffed with newspaper. Make a hat, bow tie, and nose, and your child will be ready to join the circus!
Stuffed animals make great circus performers. He can train them to jump through hoops and swallow fire.
To get things started: Dr. Seuss’ classic if I Ran the Circus (Random House, 1956) is a funny, rhyming tale of Morris McGurk’s big circus dreams.
For a clown hat, bow tie, and nose you’ll need
elastic giftwrap cord
12 x 12 cardstock
piece of construction paper
glue or duct tape
To make the nose
1. Cut out one of the twelve cups in an egg carton and punch two holes in either side.
2. Tie a knot in one piece of the giftwrap cord, fit the nose to your child’s face, cut the cord, and tie it off on the other side, threading it through the hole and securing it with a knot.
3. Paint the nose red.
To make the bow tie
1. Fold a piece of construction paper in half. Cut from one corner to the crease, and repeat from the other corner, leaving two inches or so uncut in the middle so when you unfold the paper, the triangles are still attached. (See the photo in the previous slide.)
2. Fold the paper like an accordion. Unfold.
3. Decorate by gluing on pom-poms. Attach the bow tie to your child’s clothes with a paperclip or safety pin.
Clown costume how-to
To make the clown hat
1. Draw a wedge shape on a large piece of cardstock (each side will be 12″ long).
3. After the hair is in place, form the hat into the shape of a cone. Secure with staples or duct tape. If using staples, cover the sharp edges inside with tape.
4. Then decorate with pom-poms.
It’s simple, but leads to lots of fun.