Forky In Craft Buddy Day...A Craft & Story To Kick Off The Summer or New School Year!

With the new Toy Story 4 movie being released on June 20, 2019, it is so much fun seeing the excitement around this long loved series of Toy Story movies and beloved characters.

In this new one, there are some new characters including a very special one named, Forky!  The theme of Toy Story 4 still focuses on childhood toys coming to life, but in this one it is a toy made by one of the main characters, Bonnie.

I love the connection between making, friendship and relationships in this movie.  It is so fun seeing Bonnie, along with the other students in her kindergarten classroom, create Forky and other handmade toys with a few art supplies including paper plates, plastic sporks, pipe cleaners, popsicle sticks, toilet paper rolls, clothespins, bubble wrap and more.

We can't wait to see this movie in our family. 

Then something super fun happened the other day while walking by the Tattered Cover in the Denver International Airport. I couldn't believe it when I saw this new Disney picture book...

...Forky in Craft Buddy Day from my friend and author, Drew Daywalt, along with illustrators George McClements and Stephane Kardos. 

This is such a beautifully illustrated story that Drew wrote, which was inspired by Toy Story 4. 

In the book, Bonnie creates Forky and brings him to school.  Her teacher, Miss Wendy, loves her imagination and creativity so decided to have all of the students create their own toy on Craft Your Own Buddy Day! 

The children create characters with all kinds of craft materials and recyclables while using their own imagination and ideas to create a one-of-a-kind toy for themselves.

When the craft items and recyclables become toys, they have a hard time understanding what their roles are since they are not common objects such as a plate or bag to hold food anymore.

It is fun seeing Forky become a leader throughout the story and help the others understand they are still important and even more special now too.

After I read this book, I couldn't help but think of all the ways this can be used in the classroom, library and art room.  I decided to look for a few ideas and gather them together 

First, I found a couple little figurines and a plush Forky to have at school with the book.  They are so adorable!  This will be helpful for them to look at as they...

...make their own Forky's and other toys out of craft supplies and recyclables.  This video is super fun to watch with creating Forky. 

It would not only be fun for them to make their own toys from sporks, it would be fun for them to make toys out of other recycled utensils and materials too. 

I found a few more books for inspiration and added Forky in Craft Buddy Day to my Padlet,  

Let's Bring Literacy To Life Through Making.  These books are under a new category on the Padlet called Recycled Materials. 

I also created a new Collection by Destiny, Making Toys Out of Recycled and Craft Materials. 

I added several links to ideas, books and projects that will fit perfectly into this theme and book. 

You can find the Collection here. 

Thank you, Drew for creating such a wonderful and fun book to go along with a new movie I know all of our kids will love.  

I can't wait to see what toys our students will create to hang out with Forky on our very own Craft Buddy Day at Van Meter too!