How to Make a Homemade Skeleton With Packing Peanuts

Reuse packing peanuts.

Whether decorating for Halloween or teaching a young child about anatomy, packing peanuts can be used to make a simple skeleton craft. Use packing peanuts and a few pipe cleaner sticks to make a posable skeleton. Discuss how she is able to move her body at the joints similar to her packing peanut skeleton.

Things You'll Need

• White pipe cleaner sticks
• 11 white packing peanuts
• Long nail
• 4-inch Styrofoam ball
• Black permanent marker

Instructions

1. Cut one white pipe cleaner stick to 4 inches for the skeleton's torso. Cut two white pipe cleaner sticks to 6 inches. Push a long nail completely through the vertical center of eight packing peanuts. Push the nail through the horizontal center of three packing peanuts.

2. Push the sides of the Styrofoam ball with your thumb and forefinger to create cheeks. Draw black circles for eyes, a rounded, upside-down triangle for a nose and a black curving line for a smile. Optionally, draw black right angles to make the cheekbones more prominent. Push the nail into the base of the head a 1/2 inch.

3. Slide three packing peanuts with the horizontal holes onto the 4-inch pipe cleaner stick to create ribs. Wrap the center of the 6-inch pipe cleaner stick around the 4-inch pipe cleaner stick between the top two packing peanuts to create arms. Wrap the center of the other 6-inch pipe cleaner stick around the base of the 4-inch pipe cleaner stick. Angle each side downward to create legs.

4. Slide two packing peanuts with vertical holes onto each arm. Slide two packing peanuts with vertical holes onto each leg. Bend 1/2 inch of the bottom of each arm to create hands and each leg to create feet. Push the top of the 4-inch pipe cleaner stick into the Styrofoam ball at the base of the head.