One cannot go wrong with paper crafts, especially when there’s glue, scissors and feathers involved. Kids are generally drawn to birds, especially ones as visually striking as the flamingo. There is one species of flamingos known and the “lesser flamingo,” native to Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa. This is a great sensory activity that also incorporates geography, reading and writing.
Here’s what you need;
- Glue
- Scissors
- Pencil or marker
- Feathers (Dollar tree is your friend) Also on Amazon
- Googly eye
- Map of Africa
- Poster board
- Construction paper (black and pink)
- First freestyle cut the legs, just be sure to cut one into a ⅓ : ⅔ part ratio.
- Cut the black construction paper into a half moon shape and then cut that into half to get a nice looking beak.
- For the flamingos head, cut pink construction paper into a teardrop shape.
- Lastly, for the body I recommend drawing a curved neckline leading to a rounded belly. Don’t worry too much about getting this one perfect. As you can see mine looked a bit wonky, but the feathers saved the day. 🙂
Now that you have all your prep work done, it’s time to glue all the parts together. I recommend starting with the body. This is a great time to also discuss body parts and where in Africa the flamingos are native to. I would use this as an opportunity to have your child do some simple writing, such as bird’s name and where they live. Additionally, pull out the Africa map and have your child locate where Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa are on the map. They can color it, dot it or put a check mark. Take it even a step further by having your child identify if these countries are North, South, East or West Africa.
And there you have it. A fun craft and a lesson all in one!
Share your creations and tag us on Instagram, @globalkizhouse
-Christine