If you are teaching children about birds, these egg carton bird masks are a great art activity to go along with your lessons. Made from simple materials like egg cartons, paint, and feathers, they’re easy to make and fun to play with.
You can just let the kids go wild with their imagination or challenge them to make a bird that you have learned about. Will it be a cardinal? Blue Jay? Parrot? The kids can even present their masks to the rest of the class and explain why they chose the colors that they did for that particular bird and perhaps even share 2-3 facts about their chosen bird.
For example, they could say something along the lines of: This is a red mask to represent a male cardinal. Female cardinals are more of a brownish color. Cardinals can be found in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Belize, and Brazil.
Looking for more great ideas for bird-themed activities that are fun and educational? Check them out here: Learning About Birds
Egg Carton Bird Masks
Materials needed:
1 Large Egg Carton
Scissors – depending on their age, children may need assistance with the cutting. Use caution with scissors around children.
Paint (your choice of colors)
Paint Brushes
Elastic string
Glue gun (and glue sticks) – be sure to use caution with this around kids. You can use white glue instead but it does take longer for the drying time and does require the elements to be held with your fingers for a while until the glue begins to dry. You can also use a cool temp glue gun if the children are old enough to use it appropriately. Again, this requires a bit more holding and drying time than hot glue.
Crafting Feathers (your choice of colors)
Crafting Quills (your choice of colors)
Instructions:
-Plug your glue gun and turn it on if it has an on/off switch.
-To begin, cut off sections of the egg carton that contain two egg nest holes(for eyes), and one middle spike(for the nose). (We cut out 3 to make 3 masks)
-Trim the edges until you can see the mask taking shape with two eyes and a nose.
-Paint your masks with your desired colors and let them dry. (we chose yellow for the eyes and an orange tone for the beaks)
-Carefully make a hole in the center of each egg nest to make eye holes. (We simply used our scissors but please be careful)
-Now carefully make holes on each side of the mask and tie the elastic string.
-Using your glue gun, glue feathers around the eye area (we chose to stay uniform in color but you can let your child be creative and express his/her artistic side)
-Lastly, glue quills between the eyes to create the illusion of head feathers. You may have to trim the bottom of the quills so as to not interfere with the beak (where your child’s nose goes).
There you have it. So get your crafting on and before you know it you’ll have cardinals, blue jays, peacocks, and chickens flying through your house 😉