Over
breakfast this morning my husband David, who is a Churchwarden at All Saints
Church, Loughton, (the main beneficiary of the fundraising effort behind our
Scarecrow Trail) commented, “A scarecrow trail is all well and good, but some
members of our congregation could object that it does not have a spiritual
dimension.” I beg to disagree! If we consider the conventional ‘heroes’ that we
hold up as role models for our children, most turn out to have rather flawed
characters. Princes and princesses, traditionally the epitome of beauty,
manners and good breeding, teach us that it is our background that matters, not
what we can earn by our own efforts and hard work. Knights, soldiers, cowboys and
the robots of modern war games are arguably bellicose, unsuited to a world in
which most people feel there is already far too much violence. Rich and famous
celebrities, lottery winners and pop idols can evoke the unattractive reaction of
envy, as well as (sometimes unhealthy and often fickle) imitation among their
fans.
By
contrast, at first glance a scarecrow offers an unlikely, even unattractive
role model, but to conclude this is to be mistaken. A scarecrow is undoubtedly
poor, having few possessions and dressed in hand-me-down clothes. He (or she) may
not be young and handsome, though admittedly he will probably have a winning
smile. He is a solitary, lonely figure, standing out in the fields all day by
himself to scare away the birds. He may even be considered a little old
fashioned, in these days of automatic bird-scarers. BUT…..
He is humble, stoical
and faithful to his mission, standing outdoors
in all weathers to fulfill the very necessary task he has been given, despite
the fact that his work might be considered uncomfortable, unglamorous or
boring. A scarecrow is not at all materialistic, and he is usually portrayed as
a happy and contented
character, who finds joy in simple things like sunshine, birdsong and sweet,
refreshing rain. He is nurturing, honouring nature’s
bounty by caring for the crops as they grow to
feed the world’s hungry. Finally, the armature on which he is built takes the
form of a cross, the Christian symbol of salvation.
Seen in this light, a scarecrow can be considered to offer very good role model
indeed!
In one of
her recent teaching units, Touch and Feel Scarecrows
(04.10.2012), Deborah used scarecrows as a stimulus for story telling
activities. There are many charming storybooks about scarecrows, like the
‘Little Scarecrow Boy’, which are suitable for children of all ages and that
nursery teachers could use as a starting point for a teaching unit like
Deborah’s. To make the stories more memorable, Deborah made some delightful,
tiny ‘lollipop’ scarecrows to illustrate her scarecrow tales. One set of tiny
scarecrows took the form of what Deborah calls ‘story book tokens’. She made these
to help her pupils remember what it was they were reading about that day in
class. Each child was given one as a memento and aid memoire.
Deborah also
made a simple texture game, based on the many different textures that can be
found in a typical scarecrow’s costume. These tiny scarecrows were each
‘dressed’ in something different; sandpaper, felt, foam, hessian and so on.
Deborah put these scarecrows into a ‘mystery box’, an opaque wooden or
cardboard box with a child-sized hand hole in the side. The children each dipped
into the box and pulled out a scarecrow with a different texture, which they
could then feel, share, explore and talk about. What an unusual and inspiring
way to widen a small child’s vocabulary!
These are
some micro-scarecrows that I’ve made, inspired by Deborah’s shining example. Here’s
how I made mine. These take less than an hour to make, and bring a smile to
everyone’s face.
You
will need
Jumbo Lolly
stick
Regular
lolly stick
Fine
string, about 30 cm long, to secure armature
Circle about
3 cm in diameter, cut out of white card, for the scarecrow’s face
Felt tip
pens or crayons to draw features on face
Optional
thick wool or wool roving for hair
Small
pieces of felt for hat, jacket and trousers
Scrap of
wool or twine about 30 cm long, for the scarecrow’s belt
Buttons,
beads, sequins etc. to decorate your scarecrow
Glue spots,
double sided sticky tape, or strong glue (not the runny sort of PVA, as this
soaks into the felt) to stick all the pieces together
How
to assemble your micro-scarecrow
1. Make the armature. Place the regular
lolly stick horizontally across the jumbo lolly stick about 4 cm down from the
top and secure with a blob of glue. Lash with fine string, diagonally as well
as across the top, bottom and sides, to secure the armature.
2. Cut out a small (about 3 cm) circle
from white card to make the head and draw in the features, as you prefer.
3. If your scarecrow is to have hair,
cut a small piece of thick yarn or wool roving to the length you prefer, and
stick to the back of the head with double sided sticky tape, pulling the top
slightly over at the top to cover the forehead.
4. If your scarecrow has a hat, cut a
hat shape as you like it from a small piece of felt, and secure to the front of
the head with a blob of glue.
5. For a boy scarecrow, cut a thin
rectangle of felt for the trousers (use the lolly stick as a guide to the width
and length you prefer) and cut between the legs to separate them. Fix them to
the bottom of the lolly stick with double sided sticky tape, leaving a slight
gap in the middle between the legs.
6. Alternatively, for a girl scarecrow,
cut a slightly wider skirt, about three times the width of the lolly stick and
as long or short as you prefer, and fold around the bottom of the stick to make
an A-line skirt, wider at the hem and nipped in at the waist. Secure the skirt
to the stick with double sided sticky tape.
7. Cut a larger rectangle for the
jacket. This needs to be twice the length you require and wide enough to cover
the upper arms of your scarecrow. Fold into four. Cut a very small V in the
centre fold for the neckline. Cut up the middle of the front from the bottom hem
to the V-neck. Wrap round your scarecrow so that the top of the stick and the
upper arms are covered. Secure at the waist by wrapping round a piece of wool.
8. Decorate your scarecrow with
buttons, beads, sequins etc. I used a button from a ‘Trim-it’ farm animal pack
to embellish the boy scarecrow and a ‘Trim-it’ ice cream cone to embellish the
girl. Both my scarecrows are wearing ‘Trim-it’ sandals, but you could just as
easily make some shoes or boots from a piece of white card, coloured with felt
tip pens as you prefer.
9. Give yourself a round of applause.
Enjoy!
My original
intention was to produce a Micro Scarecrow Kit to sell at a nominal cost of £1.00,
in aid of Church funds, but David has had an even better idea. I’ll soon be
handing them out to church members, either to make up themselves or to pass on
to a friend or neighbour. The only stipulation will be that, in exchange for
this simple gift, they should either enter the Scarecrow Competition
themselves, or invite the recipient that they hand the kit on to, to build a
scarecrow and display it on the trail. In this way, recalling the parable of
the talents, my original outlay of £1.00 (the cost of the kit) will multiply to
yield £3.00 (the competition entry fee) for Church funds.
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