Easier Bird Puppet

Well here is another bird puppet but an simpler version your kids can easily make with just a bit of help from Mom or Dad. With a pull of the string it flaps its wings. Kids seem to really love these projects.

Materials Required:

-white posterboard or manila tag, you could also use a paper plate for the wing sections

-2 brass paper fasteners

-string

-paint

-paintbrush,water

-potato

-bead

-straw (optional)

- pencil and/or marker

To start you need to draw out your body and wings. Now you can make this bird any size you wish. You need to place to marks for holes in the body and then in the corresponding wings.

You can check out the template here (flying bird) but you will find it on the small size so you might want to enlarge it.

Paint in your bird using whatever color you desire....we are using tempura.

When you are finished painting let dry.

I wanted some extra details for this bird so I cut up some potato stamps...what kid doesn't love to use potato stamps.

Using liquid tempura or acrylic craft paint stamp on your details....I use foam plates to hold the paint but in the interest of the environment I use these over and over...you can wash them after using water based paint or with acrylics I just let them dry and put more paint on over top (even different colors for once acrylic is dry...its dry and won't mix with any new paint)

You can use other materials for stamping on details...here I'm using a straw to get some nice circles.

Let your bird dry and then cut out.

Punch your holes...for the big holes I use a hole punch and for the little holes I use an awl but you can use a heavy needle, a bent paper clip or even a sharp pencil. Attach your paper fasteners going from the front of the bird..thru the wing and then loosely bending back....if they are too tight the wings will have difficultly moving.

Fully extend the wings and then attach a string from one small hole in the wing to the other..knot tightly.

Now take a long piece of string...depending on the size of your bird you want it to be long enough to be doubled and still hang a good 3 inches from the bottom of the bird.

Loop it over the middle of your string that is between the wings...you want to get it as close as you can to the middle so the movement of the wings is balanced.

Knot into place.

Attach a bead at the bottom so you have something to pull on to make the puppet work.

Make a loop with some extra string and tape to the back of the head for hanging.

That's it another bird puppet. Using this same method for the mechanism you can make a variety of puppets.

Give it a try and I'll see you next time.

gail

Articulated Bird Puppet

Here is a bird I've been meaning to make for some time. In fact I plan on making a few...all different types of birds from a small sparrow up to an owl but this is the prototype.

I am a big bird fan...we have two birds in our household. A budgie named Patrick and a cockatiel named Tika who loves to perch on the laptop while I'm writing these posts.

I'm also a fan of these puppets and designing the mechanism to get the right movement....

So if you are interested I'll walk you thru the process. I also plan on posting a simpler design later this week but these are really not that hard.

Materials Required:

- template

- thin cardboard like from a cereal box or shirt box

- paint, I used acrylic craft paint

- scissors

- string

- bead

- mod podge (optional)

- awl

Print off template. Trace onto light cardboard...I used the back end of a paper pad.

Cut out....lightly mark in feathers and details if you want to help during the painting but keep in mind acrylic paint will cover these marks.

Punch out holes....use a very small punch or just use a large tapestry needle or awl.

Paint as desired. Let dry.

I added 2 coats of Mod Podge to give it a shiny finish and make it a bit more substanial.

Take some string about 10 inches...I start with more than I need and then cut down as I go....better to have too much than it being too short and you have to start over.

From the back of the bird pull string thru on of the holes in the main body....knot several times and then trim end.

Thread string thru the corresponding wing using the upper hole.

Now you could use paper fasteners but I found they overwhelmed the bird...in the easier version to come we'll use fasteners.

Thread thru other wing.

Insert string thru other hole in main body from the back and knot off...you want the wings to be fully extended when you do this so you;ll have enough slack to make the mechanism work.

I painted my knots the same color as the body to make them less noticeable.

Now take another string...again start with 10 inches. Thread thru the bottom hole in the wing..come around the side and knot to the original string end.

Take the long end of the string and repeat on other side...remember to keep the wings fully extended when you do this. Trim ends.

Take another length of string...this time around 24 inches...loop over the middle of the string at the bottom of the wings...you really want this to be in the middle to get an even movement.

Tie into a knot leaving you two loose ends at the bottom of your string.

Now you could just tie a loop at the bottom for pulling but I prefer to use a bead.

Make a little hanger out of wire and either glue or tape into place at the back of the head.

That's it and you'll have an articulated bird puppet you can hang up anywhere. My kids love these as well.

Give it a try and I'll have an easier version next as well as some more of these engaging birds....the cockatiel started huffing at this one so it must be at least somewhat realistic.

gail

Glue Resist Dinosaur

So here is the last of the Dinosaur projects...a glue resist. The dried glue resists the paint and produces a pretty cool effect..lots of applications..I am already planning a neat Halloween project for Oct. Now you can free hand your skeleton or use a template. This is for Kindergarten so I gave them all a pencil sketch to follow. Materials Required: - thick white cardstock or posterboard - white glue or paste (recipe to follow) - template (optional) - paint - paintbrush (large for background,small for cracks and vine) -water container - stamps (optional) I had some leaf ones made from thick craft foam - splatter box Paste Recipe: If you are doing alot of resist work and don't want to use glue you can make a simple paste. You do need a squeezable container, like those generic condiment containers. I found mine at the dollar store for a $1 a piece. That advantage to using paste is you can make it the consistency you want. A firmer paste works better for detailed work. 1/2 cup water 1/2 cup flour 2 tsps alum or you can use a sprinkle of cloves or some wallpaper paste. This acts as a preservative. Mix together, add more water for a thinner paste if desired. Fill squeeze bottle with mixture. Be sure to discard any unused paste. Mix up a new batch as required. You can also add color to your paste using paint. For this project you want to keep it white for the bones. Pencil sketch your design. If using the template you can tape it to a well lit window, place posterboard over top and trace the design. Regular white school glue works but can be a bit runny...tacky glue works well but for a large group you may want to use paste. Outline all areas with the glue or paste using the bottle like a pencil. For the kindergartners I had to ask them to keep the nozzle on the paper...that way they had more control over where the glue went. We were using school glue so we had some ooze issues but I think it will add some character to all the different skeletons. Some filled in the head and pelvic bone and others just outlined it. If you fill in the eye socket by accident that is OK you can stick a black paper eye over top at the end.

Completed skeletons.

Let dry fully.

Using tempura paint, paint over the resist. If the paint is too thick and covering the resist just paint over it with a little water to thin it out a bit.

You don't want to spend too much time painting over the resist as the glue or paste will start to break down. Just a few passes should do it. If you are unhappy with the color let it dry and then paint again.

Here I used a warm brown but then decided to darken it so I let it dry and then did a black wash.

If you want to make it look like rock or stone you can add some splatter. I'm doing this without a box but with kids you really want to use a splatter box. You can see one in use in this post. I added cream colored splatter and black splatter.

You can add some cracks in the rock as well to make it look more like a fossil.

I still felt it needed something so I added a vine growing over the rock using some stamps I had.

You can make your own out of sponge or potato if you want.

Using some different green shades stamp on some leaves. Add a vine with a small paintbrush to connect the leaves.

Here is a test sample I was working on where I used a sponge. I think I like the vine better but you can cut out some vine leaf shapes out of the sponge.

That's it. Give it a try and consider glue or paste resist for other projects you may be planning.

see you next time

gail

Student Work - Landscapes

Here are the landscapes I did with Grade 3. I describe this project in my post here.

They are done on 90lb wc paper.

I think they did an awesome job!

gail

Pastel Resist Butterflies

Here is another pastel resist project. I love these resists....so much you can find a fish one here and a Madonna one here.

Grade 1 is working on their Butterfly unit right now they even have several chrysalis in the classroom that they are patiently watching.

Materials Required:

white paper

pastels

tempera paint

paintbrush

scissors

pipecleaner for antennae

I talked to the kids first about designing their butterflies. We wanted butterflies with some pattern on them like a Monarch..not one that was a solid color.

The drew out their design in pencil first and then using pastel colored in the butterfly.

We then took their finished drawing and crumpled it into a ball like we were throwing it out ( the kids always love this part ).

You now need to uncrumple it and smooth it flat.

Using some watery tempera we painted over the whole design..the pastel resists the paint making a cool "beading up" pattern on the butterfly.

We put them aside to dry....we were cutting ours out but if you don't care to make sure you paint the background fully.

When they are dry you can cut them out. We taped a pipecleaner to the back for the antennae

Terrific!

gail