Children's Craft Project: How to Make a Primitive Yarn Doll Fun for Boys and Girls

This is a fun, rainy-day or school-vacation craft parents and children can enjoy. You can create wonderful and colorful primitive yarn dolls that kids can either play with, or you can display in your primitive or country decor. The only thing you'll need is a ruler or a yard stick, a skein of yarn, scissors and some aluminum foil. You can make a "boy" doll or a "girl" doll. The boy doll basically has legs, while the girl doll has the appearance of a dress or skirt.

This craft takes about 20 minutes from start to finish.

The following are step-by-step instructions to create your own yarn dolls:

1. Cut approximately 60 strands of yarn about 36 inches in length (that's 3 feet, or the length of a yard stick)

2. Line up your strands of yarn on either your work table or floor. Make the strands even with each other. Don't worry about it being perfectly even because in the end scissors will snip things straight to your liking!

3. With your left hand, pick up the pile of cut yarn by the middle so that the yarn now appears half the length as it drapes over your hand.

5. Have your child take a piece of aluminum foil about 2 feet long and with their hands roll it into a tight ball. This will become the head of the doll.

6. Place the rounded ball of aluminum foil under the middle of the gathered yarn hanging from your hand. Now begin to spread the strands so that the yarn covers all the foil. This is going to become the head.

7. After the strands completely cover the ball shaped head, leaving an inch or 2 of yarn gap which will become the primitive yarn doll's "hair". Take a 10 inch piece of yarn and tie the base of the ball tightly and in a knot. Now the strands of yarn will be hanging down from the base of the head where you have tied it.

8. Tie off the strands now at the top of the head, tightly against the top of the ball. The excess yarn above the head will become the hair. For a boy doll, cut the loops of the excess yarn, straight across to create boy hair. For a girl doll just let the excess yarn remain loopy and uncut to resemble girl's hair. (see picture of final dolls)

9. Take an 8 inch piece of yarn and about 2 or 3 inches below the base of the head, again tie the hanging strands of yard tightly. This creates the upper body of the doll where we will be slipping in the arms.

10. Lay your doll down on your work surface and cut 30 new strands of yarn about 18 inches in length. Make the ends even with each other. About 2 inches from the end of the yarn, tie the bunch tightly together with a smaller piece of yarn. You are now going to make the doll's arms by braiding them. Divide the tied strands into 3 sections and begin braiding until you have about 2 inches of yarn left and tie off the braid tightly with another small piece of yarn

11. Now pick up the doll you started and in the section that is the upper body, open it in the middle with your fingers to allow space to pull through the braided arm. Center the arms and they will stay firmly in place.

12. If you are making a girl doll, your doll shape is complete and you can just trim any yarn to make hanging strands even. If you are making a boy doll, divide the hanging yarn in half to create 2 legs. For each leg you will make 3 strands, so you can braid them and tie them off, like you did the arms.

You are now finished with your primitive yarn dolls UNLESS you want to embellish them! You can further decorate them by adding felt or jiggly eyes with glue. You can add a ribbon to the girl's hair or at the waist of her dress. You can add a bow tie to the boy's neck or a small silk flower for the girl's hair. You are only limited by your imagination when it comes to embellishing!

Now enjoy your dolls and make a whole matching family if you like! You can use multicolored yarn or a solid color yarn according to your heart's desire!