Birds of the Rainforest

One of my favorite stand-by art lessons is "Birds of the Rainforest" from the book, "Dynamic Art Projects for Children." It provides wonderful step by step instructions for drawing the bird. I like this lesson so much because it works well for all age groups (K thru 5th) and is popular with both boys and girls. After the basic bird is drawn the child can add as much detail and pattern as they would like: zig zags, polka dots, swirls. ect. This is where they really have fun bringing their own personality to their bird. I strayed a bit from the book and had them add their rainforest plantlife directly to the page (rather than to an separate paper and then cut and glued to the artwork), making some plants in from of the bird and some behind. I explained this would really make the bird look like it was hiding in the jungles of the rainforest. The 3 pieces above were done by a kindergartener, 1st grader and 2nd grader. My daughter (7) did the bird at the head of my blog. Each one, wonderful and unique.