Yesterday Daphne, Maia, and their little cousin Sophia decorated fabric puppy dogs. We were celebrating Sophia's very first sleepover (while Aunt and Uncle took their new baby back to a hotel room for the night). And, full disclosure, there was so much giggling and whispering in the bedroom that I finally offered them "something special" in the morning as an incentive to be quiet and go to sleep.
That something special?
Little stuffed puppies to color and decorate!
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The dogs are from Discount School Supply and come in a set of 12 for $21.99. They are made out of plain white fabric, ready to be decorated with fabric markers or Sharpies. I had bought them because both kids begged for them thinking they might make a fun birthday party activity and party favor for one of them.
But instead decided to open the package and make this the "something special."
In the morning I set out puppies for the girls, each with a selection of
Sharpie permanent markers on an
art tray. It was a fun surprise for them to wake up to and a simple, low-key activity to work on while we cooked breakfast.
The kids were very excited about decorating their puppies! Daphne wrote "Don't touch this" on hers after adding a rainbow of colors to it.
Two-and-a-half year old Sophia drew all over hers…
…even the ears.
Maia started coloring hers a solid red then asked if we could use paint instead (the markers were taking a while for what she had in mind). We do have some fabric paint but since you have to set it with an iron, I don't think it'll work well for this. Maybe watered down acrylic paint (like we use for glue batik projects) would work though. And I think some fabric paints are set in the dryer rather than with an iron.
The two younger kids carried their newly-decorated puppies around for the rest of the morning, even taking them for a walk. Daphne had me tie a balloon to hers which made me think that not only would these puppies make a great party activity, but that they are the perfect vehicle for taking home the requisite helium balloon at the end!
Maybe we'll save the rest of the set for a birthday…
Would your kids enjoy decorating their own little puppy?
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My daughter got a little teddy that came with it’s own magic marker, for her past birthday. She can decorate it any which way, then we can pop it in the wash and it all comes out. She loves it! I wish that was around when I was a kid :)
Sarah M
Jean-
Sophia noticed that she’d missed coloring one of the ears on the drive home and asked if we could go back to your house. She wasn’t satisfied with my idea of using markers at our house! What a great activity! Thanks.
Too Funny! I saw this heading and had to laugh! My son took the sharpies to our new dog today. Only ours is real… Maybe I should get him one of these! :)
What a fun idea, Sarah! I didn’t think about using washable markers with these, but I like the idea of decorating them anew each time…
How funny, Jenny! Tell her she can come back anytime to do the other ear! :)
Oh no! What did the dog think?
What a lovely idea!! I would love to do this with my daughter. I can’t stand the smell of Sharpies, so maybe I will find some different, non-smelly markers (I know you can for dry-erase).
We just made a skirt from fabric + fabric markers – I’m pretty sure I saw the idea here a while back. I bet my kids would love the dogs, they are stuffed animal obsessed.