Picnic Invader

Total Time Needed:: 1-2 Hours

Up the ante with this creepy-crawler costume. A foam-core board makes a lightweight base for the tabletop, while glue dots are a no-fuss way to add both the plastic food and the tiny attackers. The biggest, baddest ant at the picnic wears a helmet embellished with a balloon body and pipe cleaner legs ? and he?s hungry!

Materials

Craft knife
scissors
18-inch square of foam-core board
Plastic tablecloth (54 by 108 inches)
Large (or "dimensional") glue dots
2 empty cereal boxes, taped closed
Black skate or ski helmet
Black duct tape

2 black 12-inch balloons
6 black pipe cleaners
Lightweight plastic food
Plastic ants
YOUR CHILD WILL WEAR:
Black turtleneck
Black sunglasses

Instructions

TABLE: With the craft knife, cut a 6- by 8-inch oval head opening into the center of the foam board.
With the scissors, trim the tablecloth to a 54-inch square. Lay the tablecloth face down on your work surface and center the board on top. Trace the oval opening, remove the board, and cut the cloth in sections as shown [A].
Replace the board, then pull each of the cloth's triangular tabs through the opening and affix them to the board's underside with duct tape. Using glue dots, attach the cereal boxes to the board as shown; these will rest against your child?s chest and back and stabilize the tabletop [B].
Have your child try on the costume. Once the cereal boxes are positioned comfortably, reinforce them with duct tape.
ANT AND PICNIC SETTING: Blow up one balloon to about 6 inches in diameter and the other to about
5 inches. Leave an ample "tail" when you tie them off. Use the duct tape, balloons, and pipe cleaners to assemble the ant body as shown. [C]
Use plenty of glue dots to attach the plastic food and ants firmly to the table's top and sides.