Happy Father's Day

A box of cigars, a necktie and a lopsided play-dough heart are sitting side by side in a Father's Day line-up -- a row of gifts waiting to be chosen. Which one does your father hope to take home? Brawn and sophistication may get top honors in advertisements, but every parent knows that it's a swatch of blue construction paper with "I Love You" marked in fat red crayon that can melt a father's heart faster than an ice cube in a hot cup of coffee.

In celebration of fathers and those glorious melting moments, here are five projects sure to stir a few emotions. As arts and crafts projects go, they weigh in very light on the maintenance scalecutting and pasting are as involved as things get. What distinguishes the finished pieces, however, is their ability to express what children love about their fathers, what makes their relationship different from every other one on the block.

At heart, each project included here is a collage. From a creative card in the shape of a father to a collection of painted stones, they all give children the freedom to mix and match, weaving together materials, shapes and sizes in order to tell a story. So, this Father's Day, whether the child is six, 16 or 36, remember that it's the lopsided and the homemade that hit the heart and then get saved for years and years.