St. Patrick’s Day Snake Craft

Contributed by Andrea Mulder-Slater

Saint Patrick’s Day Snakes

According to legend, Saint Patrick drove all the snakes out of Ireland in the 5th century by chasing them off the cliffs, straight into the sea. The truth is, snakes probably never existed on the Emerald Isle in the first place, but that’s no reason not to make a few cute and colorful critters in celebration of the patron saint.

Making snakes out of paper rolls is fun for kids of all ages. You can create them using items you probably already have around the house.

Supplies:
Toilet paper or paper towel rolls
Scissors
Glue
Tape
Paint markers
Scrapbooking paper (optional)
Googly eyes (optional)

Step 1: You can make your snakes a few different ways. Either cut the snakes out of the paper rolls before painting and decorating them, or paint the paper rolls (or glue patterned paper onto the rolls), let them dry and then cut out the snakes.

Tip: If you are gluing paper to the rolls before cutting, make sure you cover the ENTIRE roll with glue. Do this by smoothing out a thin layer of glue using a piece of cardboard, craft stick or an old paintbrush. Let the glue dry completely before cutting. When cutting the rolls, you will find that cutting to the left will give you different results than cutting to the right (depending on your dominant hand). Experiment until you come up with the desired effect(s).

Step 2: Either way, your snakes may flatten out. If that happens, simply wrap them around a paper towel roll so they start to curl again.

Step 3: To turn your curly cutouts into colorful snakes, round off one end (this will be the head) and keep the other end pointed (this will be the tail.)