Hay You! Straw to Meet You!: Creating Haystacks/Straw Out of Cardboard Boxes!

We're Down On the Farm during our latest unit! Since we're hog wild about anything related to agriculture and the country life,  I decided to create some good old-fashioned hay stacks to liven up our farmer's market dramatic play center. These haystacks are so life -like they would surely make even Old Farmer McDonald smile. See the following directions to create these haystacks that will have your children searching for a needle in the proverbial haystack too!

Items Needed

2 small cardboard boxes (I used the boxes that our hand soap came in.) 

Yellow acrylic paint 

Glue or glue runners 

Yellow card stock 

Fiskars crimping tool (Available at craft stores)

Scissors to cut various papers 

Yellow yarn

Yellow construction paper 

Light tan crayon (I used Crayola Crayon's Tumbleweed.)

Tan yarn 

To Make Haystacks

1. Paint haystacks with yellow acrylic paint. Let dry. 
2. Use Fiskars crimping tool to crimp small pieces of yellow card stock. 
3. Cut crimped card stock pieces into long strips with scissors. 
4. Glue crimped card stock onto sides of box with glue or glue runners. 
5. When finished with previous step, glue yellow yarn on random areas of the box horizontally to create a three-dimensional look. 
6. Tear yellow construction paper into strips and glue in a desired pattern onto your box. 
7. Draw zig-zag patterns on desired areas of the box to develop a more rustic haystack. 
8. Glue tan yarn in a cross shape around the entire box to finish your haystack. 

What Haystacks Teach Children About Farm Life 

Science: That hay is a crop that farmers grow and is used on the farm as feed for animals and for gardening purposes. Describe early methods of hay production and harvesting. 

Language Arts: Teaches children words such as bales, harvesting, hay loft, fodder (animal feed) and other hay-related vocabulary. 

Social Studies: Talk about the importance of hay in early American farm life and how it shaped life on the farm. 

Math: Talk about the "bale" form of measurement. 

Dramatic Play: (Language Arts/Role playing): Children create imaginative play experiences while using farm-related language. 

Gross Motor: Students pick up and stack hay barrels.