This craft is fantastic on so many levels, whether you want to give your kids some practice with scissors, help alleviate fear of the barber shop or hairdressers… Or your kids just want to have fun and pretend it’s a day at the salon!

I made the craft for Travis, but your child might be interested in helping step by step. First, I used a hole punch to punch about 12 holes around the rim of each of two empty toilet paper rolls.

You can use any color yarn you like for the hair. We stuck with realistic yellow and brown, but why not green or rainbow!

For each lock of hair, thread a strand of yarn through a hole and knot to secure.

Once the hair was on, Travis helped pick out clothing patterns for each doll.

I cut patterned paper into shapes for tops and bottoms. Finally, I added a round face for each with googly eyes glued on.

Once the glue dried, it was time to head to the barber shop!

This craft marked a milestone for Travis, moving up from his plastic safety scissors to preschool scissors (these still have a blunt tip, but the blades are real metal). He was so proud!

He didn’t miss a beat before the snipping began. He loved pretending he was his own barber, making a mess of hair on the floor.

I watched in delight as the haircuts grew ever shorter.

Until we had a buzz cut!

Then Travis decided he wouldn’t be satisfied until each figure was bald!

(Alas, you’ll notice they lost their eyes in the process, too).

Overall, this was a fantastic activity: a craft; a fine motor skill builder; an imaginative game, and a way to alleviate fears all in one.