Imaginary Watercolour Birds!

This idea is completely our eldest son’s!  Hope it sparks some creativity in you too!

Materials

• Branches/ sticks
• Watercolour paper
• Scissors
• Watercolour paint (we diluted ours in a paint tray with a little bit of water)
• Paintbrush
• Pencil/eraser
• Hole punch
• Thin, black, permanent marker

We always find these items helpful too:

• Smock
• Craft tray

Directions

• Go on a nature walk with an adult to collect fallen sticks/ branches and to get inspiration for what birds look like.  You can draw on the characteristics of real birds or you can create from your imagination.

• Don your smock.

• Sketch out your birds.  You don’t want to make your birds too big or they will not be able to stand on their chenille stem legs!  One easy way to make sure that this doesn’t happen is to cut your paper into reasonable size rectangles or squares beforehand.

• Paint your birds and allow them to dry overnight.

• Outline your details and pencil lines with a black, permanent marker.

• Cut out your birds.  You will notice that we cut off the feet, however,  drawing them gave us an idea as to where the legs might be placed.

• Punch two holes for the legs.

• Lace your chenille stem through a hole and fold it in half. Twist it and then wrap the end around your branch, making a perch for your bird.

• Display your birds on a shelf to share with family and/or friends!

Purpose

• Getting out into nature
• Exploring watercolour paint (For example our son said, after working with a few birds,  ”When I paint around the outside of where I want the paint to be and then the inside to fill it in, I control the paint rather than it controls me.”)

Safety Notes

• We suggest that you wear a smock and use a craft tray to protect your clothing and surfaces.
• Use scissors with care and adult supervision.