Mister Rogers Sweater Keychain

Once you have welcomed the students, give them a brief explanation about Mister Rogers and what we will be doing today.

Fred Rogers, better known as Mister Rogers from the children’s show Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, was idolized for his gentle ways of teaching children to be kind. His program on PBS ran from 1968 to 2001 and became a staple in many households. Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood helped children and adults learn how to form meaningful relationships with all people in their lives and how to manage their own emotional development. Today we will be looking at his testimony to congress on May 1st 1969 as an example of how necessary and inspiring his teachings were.

Show students the testimony linked here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKy7ljRr0AA

Have students discuss what they think of the video. Ask them about the difference is how he was treated by the committee members in the beginning vs after he explained what he does on Mister Rogers Neighborhood. Why do they think his work is important?

Make sure to have several designs of the sweaters cutting out on the laser cutter for students to view or an example for them to hold.

One of the iconic symbols of Mister Rogers was his cardigan sweaters, knitted for him by his mom, that he put on in the beginning of each program. In honor his work we will be designing and making laser cut sweater keychains.

Pass out computers and have students open Inkscape. Allow students 5-10 minutes to create and explore with limited or no guidance from the instructor.

Save the file as “STUDENT NAME” and “SWEATER KEYCHAIN”

Set up the document to the size of the laser cutter (24” x 12”)

Have students find a sweater outline, use provided template, or create their own.

(the noun project is recommend if using outline from computer)

Students can add Mister Rogers quotes to their sweater, make sure there is no outline on the text and it is filled with the same color as the top layer. Have them look up or use provided quotes below.

Divide artwork into two parts, top engraved design and sweater outline. Set sweater outline to hairline and make sure the top artwork has no outline and is solid black

Now we will make the hole for the jump ring. Have students create two circles, one bigger than the other. Align the circles to be centered and punch out the smaller circle from the middle: Path > Difference. Line up the shape on the sweater outline where they want it to hang from and select both shapes.

Once both shapes are selected have students combined them: Path > Union

Realign top artwork onto the sweater outline. The align tool will not be useful since we added the loop for the jump ring so this will have to be aligned by hand.

Save your file and export as a .pdf document.

SAFTEY FIRST

DO NOT remove material from the cutting bed before it has cooled. DO NOT leave a laser cutter operating unattended. ALWAYS clean up clutter, debris and flammable materials in the laser cutter after use. ALWAYS keep a properly maintained fire extinguisher nearby.

Encourage students to choose any color acrylic or to use wood. Mr. Rogers had every color sweater and we chose to use his iconic red one in this example.

Test and calibrate the laser cutter (eg, power, speed, align height and material)

Turn on fan and place chosen material into cutter, closing lid after

Open the PDF with the laser cutter software (for this lesson I used CorelDraw)

Make sure the document is set to the size of the laser cutter (24” x 12”)

Send artwork to laser cutter to be cut

Once cutting is done, remove material and dust off keychain if needed.

Now that our sweaters are cut out loop jump rings through the hole and attach keys.

As a group reflect on the design process and Mister Rogers teachings. Have students share why they chose the quote they did. Make closing statements and tell students their keychains should remind them to always be kind.

It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood.