Red cardinal art projects for preschoolers.
The cardinal, nicknamed "red bird," is a well known American bird. This vividly recognizable creature makes itself at home in the northern U.S., living anywhere from neighborhood parks to your own backyard. Preschoolers can create a variety of colorful crafts ranging from puppets to paintings and drawings focusing on a red bird theme.
Red Bird Puppet Craft
Create a simple bag bird puppet using a small-sized lunch sack. Turn the brown paper bag so that the bottom fold or flap is facing you at the top. Give your preschool students red tempera or finger paint in a medium-sized (the width of a baseball) puddle on a palette or art tray. Ask the children to paint the front of the bag red by dipping a finger into the red paint and pressing it against the sack. Repeat and cover the bag in feather-like textured finger prints. Set the bag aside to dry overnight. Turn the bag over and finger paint the back. After the entire bag is dry, give the children black paper circles and an orange paper triangle to glue on as eyes and a nose.
Red Bird Painting
Paint a portrait of the cardinal in all of its colorful splendor. Start with a simple pencil sketch on white paper. Preschoolers may have a difficult time getting started with the drawing. Begin the activity by showing the class a photo or illustration of the bird. Discuss how the bird looks and what you might need to draw it. Ask the children to pick out specific shapes that they see in the bird. For example, the head looks like a circle with a triangle on top and the body looks like an oval. Invite the children to draw the bird by putting shapes together to make the whole cardinal. Use red, black and orange paints to add color. For an extra lesson on nature and the outdoors, ask the children to create a simple background landscape. Use green, brown and blue paints to design a park or wooded area.
Crayon or Marker Red Bird Drawing
Turn your preschool classroom into a bird sanctuary for young scientists to observe and report on. Tape posters and pictures of cardinals on the walls at child eye level. Give each child a flat surface or clipboard, a piece of paper and a set of markers or crayons. Ask the students to go out into the "field" and view the different red birds. As the children make observations, they can draw the birds with the markers and/or crayons. Hang the completed drawings next to the posters.
Cardinal Mixed Media Collage
According to ArtLex, mixed media art work includes projects that use at least two different types of artistic materials. Young artists can combine paint, magazine pictures, oil pastels and more to make a creative construction that focuses on the red bird theme. Start with a rectangle-shaped base that is at least 8 by 10 inches in size. Use cardboard or another thick paper stock. Provide the children with red paper shapes in a variety of sizes. The children can use glue sticks to collage the shapes into a cardinal form. Add details with tempera paints and a thin paint brush. Create feathered wings with oil pastel crayons or try gluing on red craft feathers. For a special sparkle, invite the children to use red glitter and clear drying school glue to outline the cardinal's body or wings.
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