Facing Feelings

You will need: a shoe box with a lid, three paper towel tubes, scissors, old magazines or newspapers, and glue.

1. Cut a large face-shaped hole in the lid of the box (see illustration).

2. Using a tube end for a pattern, trace three circles about 1/2″ (1.3 cm) apart on one long side of the box, then cut them out (see illustration). Repeat on the opposite side, making sure that the holes line up.

3. If you are a boy, cut out three different faces of boys or men from magazines or newspapers. If you are a girl, cut out three faces of girls or women. The faces should be about the same size, and each face should clearly show a different emotion, such as happiness, sadness, fear, surprise, anger, etc. If you prefer, you can draw the three faces.

4. Cut each face into three parts—eyes, nose, and mouth.

5. Glue the three parts of one face onto the center of the three different tubes (see illustration). Rotate the tubes a third of a turn and glue on the second face in the same order. Repeat the same process for the third face.

6. Put the three tubes through the holes in the box, the eyes on top, the noses in the middle, and the mouths on the bottom.

7. Put the lid on the box.

8. Rotate the tubes to see different emotions. You can even have fun by mixing different emotions on the same face. If you’re feeling sad or angry or scared and can’t talk about it, dial up a face to match your feelings and show it to your family. Then they can help you put a smile back on your face.

Illustrated by Shauna Mooney Kawasaki