Kids making friends from scratch at the children's museum

Saturday morning, 3-year-old Sydney Lloyd made a friend - from scratch.

The shy blonde with Halloween tights and Strawberry Shortcake shoes spent about an hour stuffing straw into a red shirt and jeans.

Slowly, Sydney, along with her mom, Amy Jensen, watched as her scarecrow came to life outside the Children's Museum of Northern Nevada.

Saturday was the fifth annual scarecrow making workshop at the museum. The event allowed children to build and stuff their own scarecrows using donated clothes and straw.

"We love it, and the kids love it, so we keep doing it," said Penny Holbrook, member of the museum's board of directors. "It's just fun and something different for the kids to do. Events like this get teenagers involved in helping, and lets parents spend some time with their children."

The scarecrow is made in parts, starting with support hose stuffed with paper and straw for the legs and head, which is joined with a shirt that is then stuffed. Pants are put over the hose and joined to the shirt to make the scarecrow. Finally, the face is added using felt or markers.

As Sydney was just beginning her scarecrow, 4-year-old Rebecca Linn was putting the finishing touches on her creation, aptly named Rebecca. Her 2-year-old brother David named his Oowa.

"I thought it would be a fun time for the grandparents to spend time with the kids," said Dorine Linn, Rebecca's mom. "We ended up making it for them, but they had fun."

While Sydney was adding a wig and hat to her new friend, 2-year-old Katherine Doll was working on a scarecrow that she said looked like her daddy.

"Now he needs eyes, nose and a mouth," Katherine said after stuffing the scarecrow she named Khaki with straw.

Sydney's final touch was two strands of beads and her new friend was complete. Now, all that was left was to name her: Katiekins.

• Contact reporter Jarid Shipley at jshipley@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1217.