Are you in school? Do you need some encouragement for the year? Then Power Pencils is the perfect activity for you! For this craft we will make a pencil, and then write something to empower yourself for the current school year! The pencil will be used as a sign to be placed in a spot so we can read them when we may be struggling with school. Whether it is hard homework or a bad grade, we can look at our Power Pencils and remember that we are strong! Power Pencils are a reminder that we can keep moving forward!
Supplies:
Brown paper bag
Colored pink paper
White paper
Sheet of tin foil
4 popsicle sticks
Pen
Scissors
Paint or markers
Liquid glue
Tape
Step 1- The first thing you need to do is have all of our supplies ready to go! Lay out all your supplies on a flat surface. Once everything is spread out, you can begin!
The first step is to take out your four popsicle sticks and lay them out. This will be the main part of the pencil. You can choose whichever color you want your pencil to be. I am picking yellow! I will be painting my popsicle sticks. You can paint your pieces or color them! If you are painting, be sure you have a spot where they can dry while we work on our other steps! Once your popsicle sticks are painted or colored, you can move onto the next step!
Step 2- Next, you need to get our shapes drawn to build the rest of the pencil. The first thing you will make are the erasers! I have pink paper for my eraser, but you can choose any color you would like. If you would like colored paper but do not have any, you can take a blank sheet of paper and color it whatever color you would like. Now you can take your pink paper, or whichever color paper, and draw a 4 inch across and 2 inch in height rectangle. The horizontal side of the rectangle should be the same length as your four popsicle sticks lined up! The vertical side of your rectangle can be the length of your thumb!
Step 3- Now, you are going to make the little piece of metal that is on a pencil. This piece of metal is called a ferrule! For this step, you are going to use tin foil and you are drawing a rectangle similar to the one you made for the eraser. The rectangle needs to be about 4 inches across and 1 inch in height. The horizontal part of your rectangle needs to be about the same length of your three popsicle sticks. The vertical side needs to be about half the size of your thumb! It needs to be the same length as the eraser, but not the same height. You want them to line up straight but not be exactly the same size!
Step 4- Next, you are going to make the wood tip of the pencil. This is the part of the pencil that you may stick in a pencil sharpener to get more lead! This step you will be using the paper bag. You will be drawing a triangle. The base of the triangle needs to be the same length of your four popsicle sticks lined up! Once you have a 4 inch line you can add the other two lines to meet at a point! You want to make sure the long line is the same size as the eraser and the ferrule so they all fit together!
Step 5- Now that you have drawn out our rectangles and triangles, you can cut them out! Take some scissors and carefully cut out your pieces. You should cut out two rectangular pieces and a triangular piece. For the next step, you need our popsicle sticks. If you colored yours you will be ready to move onto the next step! If you painted them, make sure they are dry before moving on. If they are not, take a break and come back when they are finished! You need them to be completely dry so you can write on them!
Step 6- Next, you will be taping our popsicles sticks together. Flip them over on the side without any color. Take a strip of tape and place it so it connects the bottom, middle, and top popsicle stick. This tape needs to be placed vertically over all three, or horizontally over two at a time. If you choose horizontal, you will need to make sure you tape across the top and middle and the bottom and middle. You will need to make a couple strips to make sure everything is secure and won’t fall apart!
Step 7- Now that we have the body of our pencil ready and stuck together, you can glue on the rest of the pieces! Locate the end of the pencil. Take some liquid glue and add some dots of it on top of the colored part of the popsicle stick. When you add the glue, then stick on the ferrule! You need to be sure we are leaving part of the ferrule on the popsicle sticks and part of it off so you can connect the eraser. Once it is glued on, you can add glue to the other side of the ferrule and glue down the eraser.
Step 8- Next you can shift sides! The last thing to glue is the triangle piece that looks like wood! Put some glue on the edge of the colored part of the popsicle sticks and place down the triangle. The only thing missing is the lead to write with! If you made your pencil a colored pencil, then you can make your tip the same color as the pencil’s body! If you made a regular pencil, then you can take a black marker or black paint and add on the tip! If you use paint, make sure the paint is completely dry before moving onto the next step!
Step 9- Now you are going to add some encouragement to your pencil. You want to put little reminders on each stick, so you can look at it when you may be having a hard time with your homework or in need of inspiration. This will empower you to keep moving throughout the school year! You can write phrases like, “never give up”, “you’re amazing”, “you’re smart”, “follow your dreams”, “you are strong”, or “you are capable”. Write down whatever you would like and what will speak uniquely to you. You can write with a marker or pen. Make sure the ink is bold so you can see it bright! I am writing four messages on my pencil. One for each stick!
Step 10- Now, it is time to hang the pencil up. You can add tape to it and place it on the wall above your desk, put it on a wall in your room, or add a magnet to it for the refrigerator! I am putting mine over my desk where I work on homework! You want to be able to see this so hang it in a spot where you know you will see it when you need some extra power!
Finally, you are finished with our Power Pencils! When you need some extra confidence, look at the Power Pencil and remember that you can do it!
~Made by Sarah C.