Preschool Summer Bird Craft: Paper Plate Seagull

Sometimes I feel like our backyard is a bird sanctuary. We're lucky to have bright red cardinals all the time and we have even have seen hawks and turkey vultures too! So, naturally, we're drawn to easy bird crafts. My son learned how to make this paper plate seagull at preschool and I'm excited to share it with you.  It's so easy and perfect for a beach themed preschool lesson.

Here's a quick step-by-step photo tutorial!

Take a plain white paper plate. Draw a head shape at the top of the plate with pencil or crayon.

Next, cut around the head but leave it connected at the bottom (as shown above.)

Then, fold down the wings! It's starting to look like a seagull, isn't it?

The last step is just adding detail.  Add little feet, a beak and eyes. If you have silver glitter, it looks great on the wings, too! Doesn't it look cute?

This is one of my favorite easy preschool summer crafts.  You can find even more simple summer kid's activities on my Summer Fun Pinterest Board. If you make anything from there, let me know how it turns out. I'd love to share your experience on the blog or facebook page!

Bananas, Stickers & Valentine's Treat Idea

Whenever my little guy feels crafty, we open up my big drawer full of supplies and look for inspiration. Yesterday, I spotted some make-a-face stickers that we had left over from a book. Instead of smacking them on paper, I saw a big bunch of bananas and let him bring our bananas to life.

Here's a look at our stickers (above). I don't remember which book they came from, but I found some inexpensive make-a-face-stickers from Oriental Trading that you can buy online.  Even if this particular project isn't your cup of tea, make-a-face stickers can be used for so many different crafts, that it's a good staple to have in your craft supply stash.

My son had fun choosing his stickers and designing the banana face.

What would you think if you walked into someone's house and saw these sitting on their kitchen table?  I think they're pretty funny. This activity was easy, kept my son busy for a while and was completely mess free!

You could easily turn this craft into a Valentine treat by adding "I'm going bananas over you!" stickers as shown here on Twig and Thistle, or the "I'm bananas for you" bag topper by Peonies and Poppyseeds.

Easy Seashell Craft for Preschoolers

When my family was driving around Sanibel Island FL, we had so much fun with the tongue twister:

She sells seashells down by the sea shore.

Sanibel beaches are full of the most beautiful sea shells I have ever seen in my life.  Many of the shells I picked up on the beach were tiny. Just like snowflakes, each shell was different and special in it's own way.  I kept finding shells that were a shades of red and white.  My 6 year old and I nick-named them 'Strawberry Shortcake' shells. Every time we found a Strawberry Shortcake shell we'd get so excited.

But, what do you do with so many beautiful shells?  We used a basic recipe for homemade clay using whole wheat flour, salt and water.

Here is my recipe for how to make clay:

1 part Salt

2 parts Whole Wheat Flour

1 part Water

Glitter & Paint (Optional)

Mix up the ingredients until they are the consistency of a bread or pizza dough.  If it feels too dry, add a little bit of water.  Or, if it seems too sticky, add a little more flour and salt (in equal parts).

We used a cookie cutter to form a small oval shape.

Then, we pressed the shells into our oval shaped clay forms and created little keepsakes. We created a small hole in the top by pressing a straw through the clay. Finally, we dried them in the toaster oven at 250 degrees until they hardened.

Voila!

 What's your favorite summer themed craft for kids? 

How to Make 5 Easy Bird Feeder Crafts for Preschoolers & Big Kids

Every time I see bird seed in the store, my creative juices start flowing. Maybe that's weird, but it's true. There are just so many cool bird feeders you can make with the kids, and, it's the craft that keeps on giving, since the kids get to watch birds come and enjoy the tasty treat.

1) Everyone knows that a pine cone makes an awesome bird feeder, right? Let your kids spread peanut butter, lard or left-over cooking fat on the pine cone. Roll the pine cone in bird seed until it's covered, and then tie a string securely to the top to hang it to a tree or porch.

2) Don't have pine cones?  We used popcorn cakes, bacon fat, peanut butter, bird food, food coloring & string. You can read more about these easy bird feeders here. 

Toilet Paper Roll Bird Feeders are also very easy to make and great for preschool age kids.

3) Smile Monsters made this adorable heart bird feeder (shown above), which would also be a precious craft for Valentine's day. You can find her complete tutorial here.

4) String donut-shaped cereal  on yarn to form a simple bird feeder. This is great for enhancing children's fine motor skills and it couldn't get any easier. Just let your kids put all of the cereal on the string. Once it's filled up, simply tie the two ends of yarn together and voila - you have a necklace shaped bird feeder which can be easily hung from any branch.

5) Reycle a used milk carton and let your kids make their own special bird feeder. You will need to clean the carton well . Then, once it's dry, your kids can decorate the outside of it any way they want. Cut out a square opening about 2/3 up from the bottom of the carton. Make a hole in the top so that you can secure some yarn to hang it.  Then, fill with bird seed and let the birds enjoy!

We want to keep our kids and the birds happy.  So, here's a tip from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology: In order to prevent birds from smacking into your windows, move your feeders "to within 3 feet of the window or greater than 30 feet away. When feeders are close to a window, a bird leaving the feeder cannot gain enough momentum to do harm if it strikes the window. If feeders are more than 30 feet from a window, the birds are less likely to perceive windows as a pathway to other parts of your yard."

See.. you learn something new everyday! 

Do you have any other bird feeder craft ideas or tips?  Leave me a comment.