Bird and Nest Art Project

Visual textures are implied textures you can see such as cloudy, shiny, and windy and can be drawn as such.

The opposite of visual texture is tactile texture which is texture that you can feel. Feathers, yarn, ribbon and tissue paper are used to add real texture in this sculpture project featured in this blog post.

There are many ways to teach about texture including metal tooling, clay and sculpture (like you will see here.) This bird in a nest art project is a fun way to connect nature and art.

I originally came up with this project for my 1st grade Girl Scouts troop. We were working on the 3 Cheers for Animals Journey. The nest craft was an idea I found in the Girl Scout resources.

Using this tutorial, make the nest from brown paper lunch bags. Depending on the ages of the children, they might need help with this step.

Then, use Elmer’s glue bottles to squeeze glue all over the nest. Lay down random materials to make it look like the pieces that birds use for their nests. You can use materials such as raffia, hay, grasses, artificial grass used in Easter baskets, yarn pieces, tissue paper scraps, twigs, ribbons or paper from the paper shredder. If the weather is nice, this would be a good time to take a nature walk to gather various textured materials to use.

A great book to go along with this project is The Boy Who Drew Birds, which is about John James Audubon. I think it is appropriate for grades 2 and up. It is a little bit advanced with vocabulary and subject matter, but the pictures are story are beautiful.

To make the birds, use Model Magic to form a sausage shape for the body, a ball for the head and wings. Using your fingers, pinch out the beak from the head shape. You can use white Model Magic or pre-colored Model Magic. Poke feathers in the back of the bird while the Model Magic is still soft.

If you used the white Model Magic, then you can paint your birds with acrylic paints or watercolor paints.

Use black Sharpie marker to draw eyes on the birds. You can also make little eggs and baby birds with the Model Magic.

Thanks for checking out my blog and welcome if you are a first time visitor!

Natural objects are so interesting to use in making art. Take a look at Karen Phillip’s blog to learn how to make printed and sewn pillows using natural dies and potato prints.

This lesson is where fabric is dyed with natural materials- cabbage, onion skins, or blackberries. Then the cloth is stamped with potatoes and sewn into pillows. This is a great first sewing lesson for elementary students! Check out the picture below. Aren’t these great?