Make your own Pop-up from Up All Night Counting!

I noticed a post here from 2013 had a dead link to my old (deceased) website. My apologies to anyone who proceeded to make an opossum pop-up and got a 404! So, here is all you need to create the hanging momma and her seven babies from my 2012 title Up All Night Counting, which you might be able to find used on eBay.

Gather Up the Materials
ADULT SUPERVISION/ASSISTANCE IS NEEDED FOR KIDS TO COMPLETE THIS PROJECT
color printer
heavy white paper
pencil
scissors
paper
glue
ruler
exacto knife

Print the The Parts
Print out the three pages of parts and the one background scene on heavy white paper.
If you want two-sided baby opossums to hang from Mom’s tail, you will need to print a second Part G, only it will have to be mirrored using a computer art program.

Cut and Fold!
Cut out all the parts, on the “die lines” but NOT the dash lines. That includes the firefly flash circles on the background page, so some precision is required for that part especially.
For kids: have an adult use the exacto knife and ruler to cut out all the black lines on the background page and the parts that can’t be cut with scissors.

Assemble the Blinking Fireflies.
Refer to Figure 1; fold and glue the bottom of A at the dotted line.
Put A through the bottom slot on the background page, from behind.
Line A up so that the yellow circles don’t show in the firefly cut-outs. The bottom of A should be even with the background page.
Make a mark where the top of A is on the backside. Slide C through the top slot of A, so the top of the T shape is on top. This will stop A from going too high.
Carefully glue the bottom 1/2″ of C to the back of the background page.
Your fireflies should blink by pulling the tab!

Add the Branch With Baby Opossums to the Tree.
Fold the tree branch on the dash lines. Glue the branch to the tree exactly as it is glued in Up All Night Counting shown again here. Adjust the folds, then put the end of the branch through the slot in the Background Page. Glue the end to the backside of the page.

Wrap Mom’s Tail Around the Tree Branch.
Glue the fat end of the tail to the matching white area on the background page. Twist the tail around the branch just like in Up All Night Counting. Then stick the end in the slot up to the dash line and glue it from the back.

Hang Baby Opossums From Mom’s Tail.
If you made two sets of baby opossums, carefully glue them together front to back. Fold the tips of their tails at the dash lines and stick them through the slots you cut in mom’s tail. Then unfold the tails so they won’t slide back through.

Put Mom Together!
First fold the head, arms and body on the dash lines. Glue Mom’s head to the body as shown in Up All Night Counting. Her arms go in the slot in the body. When the glue is dry, carefully install Mom on the Background Page. There are four tabs that go in the slots. Make sure everything is lined up before gluing the tabs to the backside. You can do that by folding the page before gluing.

You may have noticed that there are no dash lines on the parts if you have your own copy of Up All Night Counting. The dash lines were set up for the people who assembled the book so they could learn how everything goes together. Now you know how, too!