These fun-to-paint wooden spoon friends were inspired by Alexander Girard’s beautiful wooden dolls that he handmade for his family in 1963.

What you’ll need:
• Unfinished wooden spoons
• Shoe box
• Acrylic paints
• Brushes
• Painter’s tape
• Paper plates
• Pencil
• Utility knife
• Ruler

 Directions:

1. Trace a wooden spoon on scrap paper. Add striped and facial expressions to your drawing. Use this as your template.

2. Working from the top down, mask off your stripes with painter’s tape, and paint. Let dry and remove tape.

3. Complete your spoon dolls by painting a face on each and maybe add a bow tie too.

4. Make a display for your dolls out of a shoebox painted in your favourite colours.

5. Ask an adult to cut Xs with a sharp knife where you want your dolls to stand.

6. After playing with a spoon friend push its handles through the X.