Stuck at home on a freezing or rainy weekend, needing activities to keep the kids busy? Here are ten, super easy art projects, all inspired by animals, to keep the creativity going on indoor days. Create puppets from paper bags, make a paper chain into a fierce snake, and use a straw and some paint to create the feathers of a peacock.
Animal art projects:
Animal Finger Puppets. Have any felt lying around? Perhaps some googly eyes? Well, this is the craft for you! Cut out finger-shaped pieces of felt (two for each finger!), and decorate with eyes, beaks, feathers, and feet. Use hot glue or sew the edges together, and you’ve got cute little critters to put on puppet shows for the whole family!
Egg Carton Caterpillar. Is your recycling bin overflowing, too? Glad we’re not alone. Do some upcycling by cutting out sections of an egg carton, turning upside down and painting, and creating a chain of about 5 or 6 pockets. Add googly eyes and cut out 1” pipe cleaners for tentacles, and you’ve got yourself a colorful caterpillar!
Paper Bag Animal Crafts. Make a racoon, fox, dog, or bee using construction paper, markers, and a small, brown paper bag. Get creative and add white tissue paper or a doily for wings, pipe cleaners for tentacles, or a paper tongue that sticks out when you open your animal’s mouth!
Blow Painted Peacock. Starting with fresh paper, use markers or another art material to draw just the body (no feathers just yet) of a peacock in the corner of your page, leaving plenty of space. Using liquid watercolor (or, if you don’t have any, watered-down food coloring), drop some paint onto the paper and use a straw to blow the colors together and in all directions, creating beautiful blue, green, and purple feathers.
Fork Painted Hedgehog. On regular construction paper, draw or paint the shape of a hedgehog’s round body, with legs and a face. Using a plastic fork and some tempra or acrylic paint, use the fork to “stamp” the hedgehog’s spikes onto it’s back! You can try this technique for painting other animals, too, like the mane of a lion or the feathers of a bird.
Paper Plate Animal Crafts. Make a fish, a rooster, or even a koala bear. Cut a paper plate into a spiral, give it a head and a tail, and you’ve got a snake! Got sequins? They can become the feathers of a peacock. The possibilities are endless!
Paper Chain Snake. Using the good-old-fashioned paper chain technique, cut strips of paper in a variety of colors (have little ones create a color pattern), and wrap them around one another to make a long chain. Add a flat, oval shaped cut-out for the head. Use black marker to add scales and eyes, and cut out a small strip of paper to make a tongue. Bonus- before assembling, add a gratitude to the inside of each chain link.
Pipe Cleaner Animals. Make a monkey, turtle, dog, or even dinosaur using just pipe cleaners (and googly eyes, if you’re got them)! Pick your animal and follow these easy, step-by-step instructions.
Animal Sponge Print Tracks. Using old sponges, cut out a variety of organic, circular shapes, both big and small. Do a little research to find out what different animals’ tracks look like, such as bear, dog, and racoon tracks. Glue sponges (in the shape of the tracks) onto cardstock. Use these stamps, pressed into a palette of paint, to make animal tracks on paper!
Paper Mosaic Owl. Using construction paper, cut out an oval shape (the owl’s body) and glue it onto another sheet of paper. Cut circles for eyes and the beak, and assemble. Use paper scraps to cut out small (about 1”) pieces in a variety of shapes and colors, which can be placed on the owl’s body as “feathers,” in a mosaic pattern.
