Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Shakespeare: Making Magnetic Paper Dolls

I wasn't going to blog a post on this until I was certain it would work. I'm tickled to discover that it does and it was worth the effort.

Grace and I will be following the AO Year 1 requirement for Shakespeare this term. I have an appreciation for Shakespeare, and can fondly remember studying it in highschool and even attending a couple of outdoor evening theatres under the stars. However, I'm admittedly shake-ing in my boots about trying to do Shakespeare with a six year old.

We will be reading "Tales From Shakespeare" by Charles and Mary Lamb, which is a youth friendly paraphrasing of Shakespeare's many classics. So thankfully, it won't be like we are trying to tackle a foreign language AND a Shakespeare classic. To help us keep things fun and to assist us with keeping track of the cast, I purchased a couple of Shakespeare Paper Doll books put out by Dover Publications. I also purchased a Xyron 900 Laminator System (half price for $40), knowing that I would be using it for other projects. The Xyron Laminator has cartridges for lamination on the top and magnet on the bottom.


After a couple of days of paperdoll cutting (you will need to cut these characters out by hand, the dolls don't come with perforated edges), I laminated the characters and clothing changes with the magnetic backing. Then, I cut the dolls out again leaving about a quarter inch of space between the first cut and the second cut. I was very pleased to discover that the clothes adhere to the doll when placed against something with a strong magnetic pull like the fridge. So it worked!!

It was worth the extra effort knowing that the dolls will last for years now that they are laminated and don't need to have clothes folded onto them. Grace was very taken by the beautiful characters and their clothing. Ken, however, was not so taken by the male characters Moth, PeaceBlossom and Puck, who look quite...well.. effeminate. We had a good laugh, as he demanded to confiscate the male fairies. So be prepared. :)

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