Cornhusk Dolls

I've been asked to teach downstairs in an elementary classroom this week during a unit on Colonial Maryland. How exciting! Wednesday we are going on a field trip to St. Mary's City, MD's first capital. So tonight I am lesson planning and practicing my corn husk dolls, one of the projects for tomorrow.

I will add the plans to 4th grade Local History & Geography when I'm done this week. It is only a week's worth of notes but still might be helpful to someone. We are focusing on how the environment affected the settlers -- plants, animals, landforms, water features, and climate of the region. There will also be a heavy emphasis on colonial toymaking which should be very fun!

some notes on corn husks:

1) I got an 8 oz bag of flattened dried corn husks from a Mexican food store (labeled hojas para tamal enconchada with "corn husk" written below) for $2.59


2) soak in a bowl of water for 10-15 minutes prior to using


3) the size of the doll can vary, depending on how many corn husks you've got on hand. I made a small doll (about Nature table size) with only one husk, cutting it in this way:

cut the husk in half longwise (up and down). you now have two halves.

cut the first half piece into four lengths (cut up and down) and use these for the body

cut the other half piece into halves again ie. two lengths (cut up and down). you now have two quarters.

cut one of those lengths (a quarter of the corn husk) in half crosswise (side to side) and roll the wider piece (the bottom half) to make the tube for the arms. if you don't cut it in half it will be too thick to make good arms.

take the narrower pointed piece (the top half) and cut in half up and down to make two shoulder pieces

take the remaining quarter of the corn husk and use it to make the skirt


If you have a 4th grade child who is already doing fractions you can make a diagram of all these pieces (make the corn husk a rectangle instead of a triangle shape to make it easier) and calculate what fraction of the husk is used in each part of the doll


4) corn silk makes lovely hair. use a piece of husk to form a bonnet for a girl. if you're really ambitious, use corn husk pieces and a small stick to form a broom. your corn doll can be sweeping!