Child-Friendly Activity for Making Door-Draft Snakes

Making door-draft snakes is a great way to teach kids about the environment, recycling and creativity.

Creating door-draft snakes can be a fun, easy and ecologically friendly way to keep your house warm, recycle old materials and teach children how to make crafts. Drafts that come through under the door are responsible for up to 20 percent of heat loss in a home. Recycle old clothing to make door-draft snakes and get the whole family involved with saving energy and keeping the house cozy and snug.

Things You'll Need

• Child-friendly scissors
• Jeans
• Sweaters
• Stockings
• Socks
• Rice
• Buckwheat
• Sand
• Dried beans
• Small stones
• Felt
• Nontoxic marker pens
• Fabric glue

Instructions

1. Choose some old clothing to use. Stockings, old jeans, old socks, pants, jackets and sweaters that you no longer wear can all lend material for making door-draft snakes. By using old clothes instead of fresh fabric, you can avoid sewing and save time. Also, it's easier for young children to make the snakes themselves.

2. Separate the legs from the groin, or the sleeves from the shoulder, of the clothing you selected. In order not to cause unnecessary damage to the material, you will need to use scissors for this, so use child-friendly scissors -- or for more hardy material such as denim, cut the material yourself before letting the kids begin.

3. Tie off one end of the sleeves or legs in a strong knot. It needs to be tight enough so that no small materials will fall out and make a mess everywhere. If you are using stockings or socks that are already closed at the end, tie it anyway so that the end result looks balanced and doesn't look like just a sock.

4. Fill the snake with something heavy. It is possible to use stuffing or cotton, but these fillings are generally too light -- the more weight the door snake has, the less air will escape beneath it. Choose rice, buckwheat, sand, polypropylene pellets or, if you're not too worried about very young children choking, dried beans or very small stones. Scoop the filling into the snake using a cup or a jar, stopping about 3 inches from the top.

5. Tie the loose end of the snake. Check both knots once finished, ensuring that the snake looks roughly balanced and adjusting as necessary. Also inspect the snake for any holes through which bits of rice, buckwheat or beans could escape.

6. Choose any creative decorations that you want. If every child is making his own snake, he can select individual touches he wishes to add. Attach old buttons for eyes, use nontoxic markers to write or decorate the fabric, attach a felt tongue inside the knot for it to stick out. The kids can even use felt to make animal ears and legs -- if they decide they don't want their door-draft snakes to be snakes at all!

Tips & Warnings

• If your draft snakes develop any holes, you can use fabric glue to attempt a repair.

• Be careful that kids do not try to eat or swallow any of the fillings.

References

• Green & Healthy Schools: Energy Actions -– Make a Draftstopper Door Snake
• Craft Tutorials: Unique Door Draft Snakes
• The Daily Green: 20 Adorable DIY Draft Snakes Fight Chills