Indiana teacher takes students' drawings and turns them into stuffed animals

Shannon Anderson takes the characters created by her students and turns them into something huggable.

Anderson teaches third grade at Van Rensselaer Elementary School in Rensselaer, Indiana, and every year, she has the kids write and illustrate their own books. "It gives them a lot of ownership and excitement," she told Today. Anderson encourages them to let their imaginations run wild, and after they turn in their work, she takes one of their drawings and sends it to a company that makes custom stuffed animals.

Anderson wants the kids to look at their stuffed animals and "see that writing is a joy," she said. As soon as they open up their gifts in class, their "instinct is to be in awe, to hug it and love on it," Anderson told Today. "It is something very special that they created. It is powerful." Watch the kids meet their characters in the video below. Catherine Garcia

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