Owl Inspired Art

Owl Art ~ There are so many fun art activities on the web for making owls that I had a hard time choosing which to do! Since I am making these with my daughter at home (2.5 years old) and with my preschoolers (3-5 year olds), I wanted to focus on simple and engaging projects. Here's what I decided to create!



Paper Bag Owl Puppets - using small brown lunch bags & pre-cut shapes from construction paper. I used an owl puppet my son brought home from his preschool as a sample but want to make it a bit more open ended so we also offered a variety of construction paper and supplies. If a child wanted to make their owl a bit different than the sample they were encouraged to be creative.

I also made a bigger owl puppet for 'just the teachers' at Nature Preschool to use. To make this Great Horned Owl I used a dessert sized paper plate, a brown lunch bag for the body, and cut out wings from another brown lunch bag. His head is mounted to a paint stirrer so I can turn his head around.

I made another set of paper puppets to do a puppet show for the preschoolers. To make these puppets I photocopied mice and owl pictures and mounted them onto corrugated cardboard. Then inserted either a paint stirrer or dowels. These are easy and virtually no cost and the kids LOVE to play with them. Since they're paper they only last a couple of months but the effort is worth it!

Felt Owls - children will assemble their own owls using pre-cut felt shapes. We can add either a magnet or a safety pin, or if you are feeling really crafty...sew on a back to make them into finger puppets. Another no sew idea would be to hot glue the finished owls onto Popsicle sticks to make another type of puppet. (I think I'm really into puppets this week!)

Example of the pieces that the children were given.

These on the green tray are one's that my daughter and I made together. She liked picking out the colors but the fabric glue was too difficult for her to squeeze so I had to be the official glue-girl! At preschool we opted to use white glue so the kids could make them more independently.

To see another more version of Felt Owl Puppets (i.e. someone willing to sew), check out this blog- http://www.thegreenwife.com/2010/01/01/owl-party-favors-a-tutorial-and-a-giveaway/


Mouse Finger Puppets from old knit gloves. Cut the fingers from gray or brown knit or cotton gloves. Each finger will become a mouse finger puppet. Kids add details by gluing on felt or foam pieces for the mouse tail, ears, eyes, nose. Be sure to insert a small piece of cardboard into the fingers so that the glue doesn't make it impossible to insert their finger when dried. I haven't made these yet but will try to remember to upload a picture when I do!
Owl Collages - For several days the preschoolers had an 'owl nest sensory bin'. This bin was filled with a variety of scrap paper in neutral colors and several pair of scissors. The scraps will then be used to make collages of owls.
Cut out an owl shape from construction paper.  Provide watered down glue & small paint brushes. Have pictures of real owls for the children to refer to as they collage. When all the 'feathers' are added, give the children "owl eyes and beaks" to add. Also offer 'branches' cut from brown construction paper.
Mount the owl shape and the branch to an over sized piece of black construction paper. Some children may also like to add stars to the night sky. After the collage is dried, I plan on adding a coat of Mod Podge to make the owl feathers secured and give it a shine!
(these aren't done yet but I'll upload a photo next week!)

Owl Pattern Block - I just love pattern blocks and have blogged about them in more detail HERE. I searched the web for an owl template and found this site: www.kellyskindergarten.com/math/downloads/patternblocks   This free owl template uses the same sized blocks as my Melissa & Doug pattern blocks.

Easel Art Strip - I like printing out these from the website www.makinglearningfun.com - They help me draw animals better and I use them as a guide for cutting out animal shapes as well. I glue them onto sentence strips and cover with box tape to help protect them. Then I leave them at our writing center at home for the my kids to use as a model to draw.

Owl Paintings - cut shapes of owls from oversized paper. Let kids paint it at the easel - use feathers instead of brushes if you're feeling brave. For eyes you could glue two toilet paper tubes together to let the kids dip in yellow paint and then stamp eyes onto their owl.

I've got some fun ideas for Owl Snacks over here at this post: http://primarylearninglogs.blogspot.com/2012/01/owl-snacks.html

Other fun owl art projects could include:
Owl Homes from Oatmeal Containers
Owl Puppets - using toilet paper tubes. It would be fun to have little mice for the owls to eat.
Crayon melt art using an old electric frying pan and a line drawing of an owl.
Owl Eyes Opera glasses (Knee High Nature) - compares the size of our eyes to owls' eyes
Owl & Mice Masks
Owls made from the kids handprints - http://www.preschoolplaybook.com/2009/09/handprint-hoot-owl.html
Owl Mobile that would be nice to decorate the classroom - http://www.skiptomylou.org/2010/09/30/printable-owl-mobile/