Make some adorable Arty Bird Puppets!

Today our new contributor, Shannon from Oh Creative Day, is showing us an ingenious way to repurpose some of those old paintings you can’t bear to throw away.

These arty bird puppets are perfect if you hoard piles of kiddy artwork and paper tubes. Or is that just me?

How to make Arty Bird Puppets

You will need:

• Paper tubes
• Acrylic paint
• Artwork (that you are happy to repurpose and cut up)
• Craft glue
• Washi tape
• Markers
• Scissors

How to:

Paint your paper tube. We used the tube from the kitchen paper towel.
Once the tube is dried, fold it in half to create your puppet.
Cut the artworks into feathery shapes. This is a fun chance to extend your child’s vocabulary by discussing and describing the feathers of different birds. It is also a great chance to practise scissor skills- we did fringing with some of the feathers. We cut some feathers by folding the paper in half and cutting- a great chance to discuss symmetry. So many learning opportunities! Be sure to cut out some eyes and a beak.
Glue the beak to the underside of the folded tube. We made sure that the painted side faced outwards and ran some washi tape down the middle.
We folded tabs towards the base of each eye and feather. We then glued the underside of the tab and stuck this onto the tube. We glued the eyes in place first and then arranged the feathers behind the eyes. Once we were happy with the placement of everything, we wrapped washi tape around the feathers, eyes and tube to keep everything in place. The beauty of washi tape is that it also acts as a decorative feature!

Your arty bird puppet is now ready to take flight!

If you still have artwork scraps, keep them for some collage projects. Here are some simple collage projects for kids.

About Shannon

Shannon is a mum and a teacher who believes that reading and creative outlets are as important as breathing. She harbours the desire to be a published picture book author. But first she needs to figure out what’s on for dinner. Shannon blogs at Oh Creative Day where she celebrates her perfectly imperfect attempts to live a creative life. AKA trying to remain sane whilst raising 3 kids under 4. She has an unhealthy addiction to Instagram, coffee and pom poms and is vehemently opposed to glitter. According to her husband, she cannot pack the dishwasher properly. Like, ever. You can find her on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest.