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Sunday, January 17, 2016

Winter Friends

These are by far my new favorite project! We have spent the last week talking about animals that migrate and hibernate. But we couldn't forget all of the hardy animals that stick around our snowy, frozen home in Minnesota! This project from Pinterest was the perfect ending for our winter discussions. You can get the project templates here. I have been known to blog-stalk the I Heart Crafty Things blog. I just can't get enough! Be sure to leave some love while you are there!


These projects are modeled after the artwork in one of my favorite books, Snowballs, by Lois Ehlert. 


I love the simplicity of the colors, but the vibrance of the red cardinal set against the gray and white background. They are quite different from any other winter projects hanging in our classroom or hallway right now. 


I wish I would have taken pictures of us as we completed each step. However, we were too caught up in the excitement of the project to stop for photos. The directions are below. 


Directions: 
1. Give the students a half-sheet of white construction paper and a whole sheet of gray construction paper. Have them cut the white paper into 4 strips the long way. 
2. Then have them use a black crayon to add black marks up and down each strip to make them look like aspen trees. 
3. Glue the strips down onto the gray paper. 
4. Cut out the birds (printed on red paper) and beaks (printed on orange paper). 
5. If you want you can explain the difference in colors for the male and female cardinals. My students were given the option to color over one of the birds with a brown crayon to make it look like a female cardinal. 
6. Glue down the birds and beaks and add some eyes. We used google eyes to give it dimension. 
7. We drew legs, but you could also cut them out of paper. Then we set them aside for the glue to dry. 
8. Using Q-tips, have the students add snowflakes to their creations. 
9. Add birdseed (we could only use sunflower seeds due to allergies) by creating a pool of glue at the bottom of the page. We also put a seed in one of the bird's mouths. 
10. Admire your beautiful winter artwork! 




I hope your kids will enjoy these as much as my children did. These are sure to become a treasured piece of artwork, both at school and at home!