create (Mama): The Gecko's Tail

As I was sharing earlier in the week, here, we have quite a few "why's" floating around our house these days. It's a handy barometer for me to see what Isia's interested in. Her latest passion is geckos, spurred by the amazing exhibit at our local children's museum. In this exhibit there are over a dozen geckos, each species hiding in their own habitat. It's like a living "Hidden Pictures" for kids! So we've been spending a lot of time there lately, searching for the geckos and learning more about these fascinating creatures. Isia's been especially enthralled with the fact that they can lose their tails. Throughout the day she'll say, "Mama, geckos lose their tails. I just don't know why they lose their tails!" We'll then talk about why they do, self-defense, and she'll be satisfied for a bit- until the question pops up again later. In order to help her understand geckos better- and give her a tactile way to explore her question- I decided to bring a gecko into our lives.

No, it's not a real gecko. I did consider it, but decided that acquiring a new pet while trying to sell our house was not the best idea (ahem). So I made one instead, using an old felted sweater that I had on hand. 

I created the head and body out of the sweater sleeve, curving it at the end for the nose and indenting it in the middle for the neck. The arms and legs were cut out, sewn together, stuffed, and then detailed on top. Then it just needed button eyes...

...and a tail! Since I wanted the tail to come on and off easily, I hot-glued velcro onto the body and ontp the tail. It didn't come out exactly like I envisioned- I wanted the tail to be more flush with the body- but it's still perfectly lovable and definitely play-worthy.

Yes, very lovable indeed!