When I started planning the murals for my classroom walls, I received all sorts of feedback on social media. My initial sketches and ideas inspired a dozen conversations about what else would be fun to put in my classroom.
After one such conversation, I decided what I really needed was a truffula tree like the ones in The Lorax.
I mentioned it online, a friend sent instructions for making replicas of the Once-ler’s favorite cash crop from pipe insulation and Martha Stewart’s tissue-paper pompoms, and I promptly set about constructing a small truffula forest for my classroom.
As one does.
Instead of insulators, I bought pool noodles at the dollar store and scribbled the black striations onto them with a Sharpie. To get them to stand upright, I reinforced them with PVC pipe. I screwed two pieces of half-inch particle board together to make a base, painted it green, and drilled holes in it with a spade bit. Then I inserted dowels into the holes, reinforced them with hot glue, and slipped the trees over them.
My truffula forest serves no discernible practical purpose, but it was easy and relatively inexpensive to make, and it’s been a fun addition to the most whimsical classroom I’ve ever had.
Emily
Foolish Wand-Waving 