On the toddler television show, “Dora the Explorer,” the map sings, “I’m the map, I’m the map!” You can create your own Dora map with a few household items. Use the map for playtime, to follow along with the show or as themed birthday invitations. Make it fun and colorful, but be sure to keep it away from that scoundrel, Swiper, or you’ll be calling out, “’Swiper’! No swiping!”
Things You'll Need:
- Scissors
- Cream Or Tan-Colored Paper, 11" X 17"
- Crayons
- Ribbon
- Pencil
- Ruler
- Colored Markers
Lay the piece of paper horizontally on your work surface. Measure 1 inch in from the left bottom corner and place a dot with your pencil. Measure 1 inch from the left top corner and mark with a dot. Use the ruler to draw a line to connect the dots, then use the ruler to mark and draw lines to create a border around the edge of the page. Trace your pencil lines with a brown marker. All of the map will be inside the border.
Draw an image of a vertical paper scroll in the left corner inside the border. You will want this to look like a rolled-up map. On the front of the map, draw two large eyes with two scalene triangle-shaped eyebrows. Under the eyes, draw a cartoon mouth in the shape of a half-circle. Use crayons to color the eyebrows blue, the eyes white and the mouth red. Trace the map’s shape with a black marker.
Sketch a path that starts from the lower-left corner and meanders across the map towards the upper-right corner. Draw a bridge a quarter of the way down the path. Create a stream underneath the bridge.
Draw a forest of trees on either side of the path in the middle of the map. At the end of the path, draw a house.
Color the stream with a blue crayon. Use a dark brown marker or crayon to color the bridge and the tree trunks. Select a dark green marker to color the treetops to differentiate them from the grass. Add red apples in the trees.
Color the house with a bright yellow crayon or marker and use orange for the roof. Shade the remainder of the map with a light green crayon to resemble grass. Outline the path with a black marker.
Let the map dry, then roll the map into a scroll. Place a light pencil mark on the outside of the scroll. Unroll the map and place face down on the work surface.
Draw the same map face as you did on the inside – eyebrows, eyes and a mouth. Color with the same color scheme.
Roll up the map and secure with a piece of ribbon.
Tip
For a birthday invitation, have the house marked as the site of the party.
References
Writer Bio
Caroline Baldwin, a corporate communications director located in South Carolina, began writing in 1998. Her work has been published in publications across the United States and Canada including Rolling Stone, Boating Life, Waterski and Wakeboarding magazines. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in communication studies from The College of Charleston.
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