Jingle Jangle Scarecrows

I taught the kids a new song today.

When all the birds are sleeping and the sun has gone to bed,
Up pops the scarecrow and this is what he said,
"I'm a jingle jangle scarecrow with a flippy floppy hat.
I shake my hands like this and shake my feet like that!"

(Update: If you know that song, you probably sing Dingle Dangle, but I learned it as Jingle Jangle and that's what stuck!)
The kids love acting it out, especially the "up pops the scarecrow" part when they get to jump into the air after crouching down during the first line. I found this wonderful scarecrow coloring sheet many years ago (probably 10 or so):

It was my inspiration. I decided to make parts of a scarecrow based on this picture so the kids could put one together. But I made it bigger. Much bigger. Almost life-size. Well, kid-size. So I got to work free-hand drawing everything but on a larger scale. A hat, scarf, head, arms, legs, and body. I put everything on the tables for the kids to pick and choose their own colors. Then we got started putting everything together.

For the hat, I cut along the line so the head could slip inside. You only have to put glue on the bottom edge of the hat.

Then you glue the head to the top part of the scarf, and the scarf to the body. Leave the top part of the scarf above the body so your scarecrow has a neck. Then glue on the arms and legs and put on a face!

For the face this year, I had buttons, wiggle eyes, and stars, apples, and sunbursts made with paper punches. I also had markers out if the kids wanted to draw the face. Then I flipped them over and used yellow crinkled paper strips from the party store...

...as hay/straw. I just taped it to the backs of the arms and legs (and a little under the hats!) so it looked like straw was poking out.

And then to make it a true jingle jangle scarecrow, I tied a yarn belt around the waist and attached a jingle bell.

Here's what they looked like all put together:

And here's one of my kids holding his up so you can see how big they are:

I lined them up and down our hallway outside of our room.

So cute, I tell you. So cute! And it all started because of that coloring page I saw. You can find that here.

Variations: In the past I have used red yarn for the kids to make a smile. I've also had squares of plaid material available for the kids to make patches and pockets. Another thing I've done every year except this year was use brass fasteners to attach the arms and legs so they move. (I didn't have enough for everyone this year.) I've also used a pumpkin shape for the heads, but after putting the hat on you couldn't even tell it was a pumpkin so I didn't do it again. A circle is much easier to cut out over and over again. And I've even used real straw before. Boy, was that messy! But it looked awesome.