Wednesday, October 24, 2012

The Loch Ness Monster

Nessie- the monster, the myth, the craft and the game


Lurking in the depths of Scotland's largest lake, Loch Ness, is a creature most mysterious.  Is it a dinosaur that has somehow survived all these years?  Is it a sea serpent?  Is it a hoax?  No one has ever given definitive proof either way.  The loch is 22 1/2 miles long, 1 1/2 miles wide and 754 feet deep and every inch of it has been searched but still no one has been able to prove what it is that people have claimed to see for years.  Most reports are that it is very long with a long neck that can come out of the water.  Most people see humps in the water that they say are it's body, while other people see a wake in the water that they think is it swimming.  There have been a few grainy pictures but pictures can be so misleading.  So the debate goes on - is Nessie real or fake?  We don't know either but we do know a good project when we see one.  Let us introduce the.................

"Sock" Ness Monster

For the project you will need:
  • one large tube sock for each monster
  • stuffing (we raided an old pillow)
  • googly eyes
  • sharpies or fabric paint
  • hot glue or regular glue and patience
  • a bent up coat hanger or wire
  • felt
1. Stuff your sock with the stuffing.  For my daughter's we added the bent up coat hanger so we could make it stand up a little.  Put some glue on the end of the sock and pinch it together.  We also twisty-tied it to keep it tight until it dried.
2. Cut out some flippers and glue them on.  We cut them out of the end of my son's sock but felt would've worked. Glue them on.
3. Glue on googly eyes and any other decorations you'd like your monster to have.  We did some triangle spikes down the back.
4.  Decorate with the sharpies and add the little details that make it your own - eyelashes and hearts, etc. etc.

Voila!! You have now seen the legendary "Sock"Ness Monster!!
 

The Search for Nessie - the game.

So now that you've made your monster you want to play with it right?  We played a fun game called the Search for Nessie.  One person hides Nessie (or "Sunshine" as my daughter named hers) somewhere around the house (or yard, or park) and the rest of the family races around trying to be the first to find it.  Simple and fun.