craft activity, nativity pop-up card

This post is for children. Should you find yourself with a house full of children I suggest this fun time activity. They will need their usual art supplies, plus card stock, lots of that to draw and cut and experiment with undisciplined abandon, the usual,  scissors, glue, coloring pencils, pens, or crayons, regular child's imagination. The post is lengthy with photos in an attempt to avoid words.

The idea is concentric bands that stand up. They are made as if already smashed flat.   The band must fit the shortest dimension of the card.

The paper bands are divided in three for six equal sections each to make a hexagram.  I'm using a string instead of measuring. 

Each hexagon ring will have two hinges that act in harmony with the central fold. The remaining four sides of each paper band are not attached to anything. Only two sides parallel with the central fold. So, lots of hinges are made. 

By trial and error find the position centered with the central fold. Glue one side. Let the card find the perfect placement for the second tab. Add glue to the second tab and close the card. Open the card to check. 

The idea is load the rings with content. It can be anything. The distance between the arrows will be the size of the camels. 

The manger is the same as the concentric bands except the two sides that attach are longer to form the shape of a manger and it is taller. It will have a lid that is too big so that is bulges upward. Baby Jesus will be drawn on the lid. Hay will be placed between lid (with picture of baby) and sides of the manger.

Mary and Joseph are glued directly to the manger.

Each piece is drawn twice, front and back. A sheet with six sheep is drawn twelve times. 

[The original idea was to produce a post-modern nativity that draws from all Western art for elements no matter the discipline or material, oil painting, sculpture, stained glass, cinema, nativity sets, illustrations, architecture, music, dance, Hummel figurines, everything. Over fifty images were collected through Google images by searching, "nativity," "Christmas angels" "magi" "manger" and the like. Printing both front and reversed the images can be clamped and glued onto the hexagon. Both my printers ran dry of ink (Denver -- near desert0  with no time for replacement. I had to scribble them instead. This would be much faster with photographs rather than drawing, and it would be much more post-modern due to mix of styles.]