Here's another fun project. You can make a wooden character out of an old-fashioned clothes pin to inhabit your treasure maps.

Here's what you'll need:
1. Old-fashioned clothes pins (you can find these at your local craft supply store)
2. Thin-tipped permanent markers or pens
3. White glue
4. Pipe cleaners or thin strips of cardboard or tagboard for the arms
5. Various colors of embroidery floss, yarn, paper, or fabric scraps
6. Optional: Glitter jewels and fancy stuff

To make your wooden character:
1. Draw a face on the round top of the clothespin.

2. Cut a thin strip of cardboard or tagboard for the arms and glue them on. (Or, wrap a pipe cleaner around the body for arms).

3. Using embroidery floss, wrap the thread around and around the upper body over the arms to form the top. Leave a space for the tummy and belly button. Then, from the waist down, wrap embroidery floss to wrap around and around your mer-creature's tail-fin. A tiny dab of glue at the beginning and end of the wrapping will hold the embroidery floss securely.

4. If you want to use fabric or paper scraps instead of embroidery floss, just cut the shapes you want and glue them on with white glue.

5. Draw in the belly button.

6. Cut a different color floss into lengths for hair, and glue those on. (Gluing the hair on last keeps it from getting tangled when you are making the body)

7. Draw or glue on any other glittery details or jewels.

8. When your wooden character is all dry, pull out your treasure maps and let them swim, play, and explore. Tell stories with your wooden characters and let the characters act out the story.

9. Invite your friends over to make maps and wooden characters. With more maps and wooden characters, you can make a whole sea of islands, and have lots of fun.

10. After playing with them, you might want to write a story, or create more maps of different places.