Parrot paintings with watercolour and feathers

Sometimes all the inspiration you need for a craft activity can come from browsing the aisles of the local cheap-shop.

I found these cheery rainbow-coloured feathers for a dollar a packet, and I’ve been looking forward to finding some way to use them.

Hmmm…. thinking….. thinking. Feathers…. birds… collage… Aha! Why don’t we do a bird picture using collaged feathers?

(I  know, I know…. I’m a genius.)

Having made this profound connection, I went searching on the internet for a bird image to print out as our starting point. Within minutes I’d stumbled across this wondrous site which offers free printable colouring-in pages. (Aren’t they lovely?)

Also decided this would be a prime opportunity to try out the $2 watercolour paints also purchased at said cheap shop.

Time to begin! First, the painting.

For those who don’t know, this part takes lots of concentration. 😉 And your tongue has to be positioned JUST right.

Trying to teach the kids to clean the brush between colours…

Well, the eldest child got that part, anyway.

Making a mess is all part of the fun, hey Aran?

Nice muddled-up colours, care of Master Two.

Ooh ooh, now for the really fun part. Gluing on feathers!!

… and with a little more precision from Master Three…

Hmmmm, now what? Maybe we should do some more painting on the leaves?

Yup, that’s better!

Jaxon was so proud of his finished product.

Below is Aran’s parrot. Mummy was very encouraging of both children’s efforts. Daddy, on the other hand, arrived home and commented (tongue in cheek), “What are those feathers doing there? They’re not on the birdie!”

To which Aran replied very seriously, “Yeah, I missed!”

LOL…. you sure did, buddy. 🙂

The wrap-up


Plus: Watercolours are SOOOO much easier to prep and clean up after than acrylic paints, which we usually use. It’s also really good for the kids’ fine-motor skills to use small brushes like these on occasion, rather than the big brushes and whole-arm movements needed for easel painting. Jaxon really enjoyed the challenge of trying to stay inside the lines.

Minus: Two-year-olds aren’t going to get the concept of washing the brush between colours. He did try – he just kept getting the sequence muddled up (eg dipping the brush in water, then painting the water onto the paper.) In this case each child has their own watercolour paint palette, so it really doesn’t matter too much. Aran won’t notice or care that his colours are becoming muddy next time he goes to paint. (And did I mention the paint sets only cost $2?)

The verdict: I was proud of the kids’ efforts and thought their paintings/ collages looked fabulous. Very colourful and striking results for an activity that was so simple to set up.

What do you think? Are you tempted to check out the colouring pages online? Go on! There’s animals galore… let your imagination run wild!