Get Crafty with These Oddbods-Inspired Accessories for School

Print off and Colour the Back to School Printable.

Cut out paper strips. I used our paper cutter and cut 1-inch strips across the short edge of the paper, but if you have an older child use a ruler and get them to mark and cut the strips as it is an excellent scossor skill task.

Make a loop for each day until school starts from the day you want to start using the calendar. You can also write the day or number of days left on each of the loops.

Have your child make a loop with the paper and use glue or a stapler to connect it. My kids love using the stapler. Make a loop for each day until school starts. We are going to start counting down in August, so we made 16 loops.

On the last loop make a tear drop shape instead of a loop and connect it to the Back to School Header that your child has coloured in.

As I am painting my paper I am using the back of a desk planner as paper, but the back of wrapping paper works well too. Lay your book on the paper, mark the centre and cut it neatly to size. Make it approximately 2.5cm larger than the open book, all the way around.

Now we are going to decorate and paint our notebook. I have chosen to paint the Oddbods characters Zee and Bubbels on my book cover. Once you have drawn and painted your cover allow it to dry before moving on to the next step. Don't worry; it is OK to trace your character- I did!

Also, don't worry about changing your materials. I used paints, pencils and markers. I also used a black pen to outline my character once I'd painted it.

Close the exercise book before you stick down the back cover. You don’t want the paper to be too tight and rip the first time you open and close the book! Use glue for a smooth finish – a spray adhesive is less likely to show lumps but a glue stick works well.

Once you've glued the paper to the cover, open the exercise book and fold the wrapping paper diagonally across each corner.

Fold the edges in and secure with glue.

Ease the pages of the exercise book gently away from the cover to tuck the wrapping paper underneath.

Cover with clear, sticky-back plastic to protect your exercise book. Simply follow the same process as before, making sure the plastic is slightly larger than your newly created cover.

Now the secret here is that we have used colour changing paint.

Just pop your hand on and watch the colour change like magic due to the heat from your body.

Turn your plain paper to landscape format. With a pencil, mark the tin can's height on the paper and cut along the line using scissors.

Mark the circumference on the paper lightly in pencil as this will help you centre the character.

Design your cover with your favourite Oddbods character. If you print out our Back to School Calendar the characters are the perfect size to trace!

Colour in your character.

Cover the rear of the paper with glue and wrap it around the tin can.

Apply more glue mixture to the seam and over top of the paper to seal. Add a layer of gloss to your tin can pencil pot or cover in sticky-back plastic.

Add your pens!

Print out the backpack name label sheet.

Select your favourite character and colour in.

Add your child's name and class to the label and glue on the back of the coloured character label.

Laminate – if you don't have a laminator then sticky-back plastic is a brilliant alternative. Just make it slightly larger than your name label.

Punch a hole in the label and add to a key ring.

I love keyrings with clips so that you can attach them easily to a bag.