How to make an easy deep sea diver costume – Australian National Maritime Museum

This month ’ south kids craft spot is an adaptation of how to create a elementary loon ’ s helmet like this for dress-ups and pretend play. alternatively of fabric we ’ ve used some easy, accessible materials you might just have lying about at home when a certain little person asks “ what are we doing for craft today ? ”

Materials

• Cardboard box
• Stanley knife (for grown-ups to do the cutting) or make do safe saw tool for kids
• Large (51 mm) paper binders
• Gold/bronze coloured contact paper (or you could use coloured paper and glue)
• Scissors
• Hole punch
• Gaff tape/cloth tape/masking tape
• Black marker
• A4 printouts of our diving helmet templates (Page 1, Page 2, Page 3)

Optional materials

• black/brown watercolour paint
• a spongey brush
• glue
• glitter or sequins if you want some extra sparkle

Step 1
Cut out all your dive helmet template shapes and trace them onto your cardboard .
touch : We ’ ve made our helmet open at the second so it ’ randomness easy to pop on and off for preen ups, however if you wanted to, you can make three more helmet sides ( but without a face fix ) and another helmet basis condition to add to the back to make a full helmet .

Step 2
tip : Grown up help required for this gradation !
Cut out all your dive bell pieces with a Stanley knife or sharp scissors. In addition to the pattern pieces you will need a denude of wag ( approximately 30-40 centimeter long and 2.5cm wide ) for the dive helmet union nibble .
If you have plenty of fourth dimension and patience you could besides let the kids serve with this step using a plastic box-cutting knife or kids scissors.  




Step 3
Use your hands to scrunch and bend the cardboard pieces all over so they are less stiff. This will make it easier to form the curved helmet condition. Use the gaff tape to tape the pieces together from the inside .
touch : Use the side with your sketchy outlines or any muggy tape/marks as the inside so that your outside is smooth and easy to decorate .


Step 4
Create your raised window panes for the sides .
For each window paneling, place the 4 window pieces of tease together and pin with a newspaper fastener threaded through each end like a sandwich toothpick.

then use the composition fasteners to secure the windows to the helmet, bending the split pin ends from the inside .

Step 5
immediately it ’ south time to decorate ! Cut out gold/bronze contact strips ( or paper if that ’ s what you are using ) to make the cross hatching on the sides. Cover the helmet joiner, trim the helmet bottom and surround the face hole and windows .



S tep 6
You might like to hole punch the front hole and helmet join decorations to create a more textured effect .
Add all your cosmetic reach pieces to the helmet .


You might even like to add some excess nuts, bolts or cogs made from any leftover scraps of card and contact and secured to the helmet with newspaper fasteners .
If you ’ re exquisite on foam, excess sequins or glitter can besides be glued on here .


Step 7
You could stop decorating now, however, we thought our helmet needed a small something .
If you agree, use a bite of watercolour rouge and a spongey brush all over to give your cardboard an antique-y bronze look .
Add supernumerary definition by outlining your amber trimming with a blacken marker .

Step 8
Add a cardboard set to the back that can be adjusted to head size with tape or staples.

Make certain all your paper fastener ends are taped over on the inside so that they don ’ thymine scrape little faces .

And there it is. Suit up little aquanauts, it ’ sulfur fourth dimension to dive !