Lacing Football Craft

As Superbowl Sunday approaches, we wanted to make a football craft with our daughter to help get ready for the big game. The problem was figuring out how to get the paper to look like a real football with its slightly bumpy texture. The answer for our football craft was to use a Lego grass board and do a crayon rubbing technique! We have yet to meet the child that doesn't like this activity and it produced the perfect football. Having your child lace the football adds a layer of fine motor skill practice and the end result is a fun sports craft that makes a great decoration too.

What you'll need:

Paper
Glue stick
Scissors
Scotch tape
Hole punch
White shoe lace (or other string/ribbon)
Brown and Red-brown crayon
Lego grass board
football template

How to make your Lacing Football Craft

Place a piece of paper on top of the Lego board. Peel the wrapper off the crayons, lay them on their sides on the paper and rub back and forth.
Move the paper slightly and rub again. Repeat as many times as you would like and use different colors to get the desired effect.
Print the football template and cut it out. Trace it onto the colored piece of paper and cut out the football.
Fold the football in half and punch a four or five holes in a line down the middle.
Cut a small rectangle out of white paper and glue it in between the holes.
To lace the football a shoe string works best, but if you don't have one handy any white ribbon will work. Cut a small length of the string, thread it through one hole and tape it to the back of the football to keep it in place. Have your child then lace the football so that the laces go back and forth between the two rows (see the pictures for an example). When you get to the last hole tape the other end of the string to the back.