Materials

• Several adult-sized, stray socks (anklet socks made from a stretchy material work well)
• Uncooked rice or flax seed (about 1 cup for each critter)
• Scissors, craft glue
• Small, colored pom-poms,
• felt sheets, glue-on eyes, string or yarn, small buttons

Directions

Cut one paper towel roll into two uneven sizes (one for an "adult-sized" character and the shorter one for a "child-sized" character).

Repeat with more paper towel rolls if you want to create additional cardboard characters. Make sure each character has a flat bottom so he can stand upright without tipping over. Paint each section a different color using tempera or poster paints. Set aside to dry. Cut ovals from colored paper to use as faces. Use a marker to draw in simple faces on the ovals. Cut hand shapes from colored paper. Glue the face ovals and hand shapes onto each cardboard character.

To create the winter hats, trim the toe section off of the socks and discard. Fold the top of each sock tube to form a cuff and place it onto each tube section. Tie the top of each hat closed with colorful yarn or ribbon.