This one's for the birds

Once again our library came up with a super fun craft for the kids to do after story time.  The theme was "friends" so we made a little feathery friend at the end.



Here are the supplies that you will need to make your own feathery friend:

small styrofoam balls

craft glue

paint

feathers

googly eyes

yellow craft foam

20-gauge wire (found in the jewelry section of your craft store)

The first thing you'll want to do is paint your styrofoam balls in whatever color you choose.  This was done before we got to the library but just a few tips... I read somewhere not to use spray paint on styrofoam--it eats away at it.  Not good.  Another tip?  I saw that the ladies at the library had put each ball on a skewer (not all the way through) so they could paint the entire ball without having to wait for the paint to dry to get that last little bit at the bottom.  They then stood the skewers up in a vase or cup. So smart!

Once your paint is dry you get to make your bird!  Pick out 3 feathers (or more if you want!) and just push them right into the styrofoam.  Glue on your eyes.  Cut out a small yellow triangle from the craft foam and glue it on as a beak.

Last come the feet.  Again, these were already pre-made for us at the library so I don't have exact measurements for you.  I did ask what they made them from and she told me it was 20-gauge wire from the jewelry section.  They then swirled them around, leaving an inch or so of wire straight to push into the ball.

Pretty simple but so much fun!  My little boys loved their little feathery friends!