Penguin Preschool Craft

Here’s a quick craft by guest blogger Angela Pounders using stuff you probably already have around the house!

Winter Craft Idea for Preschoolers


Angela Pounders, The Master’s Daughter

Penguins are very interesting animals.  Some are nearly 4 feet tall and weigh 90 pounds like the Emperor penguin of Antarctica.  Some have fun names like the Macaroni penguin of the Falkland Islands (one of my daughter’s favorites since she likes macaroni) that is 28 inches tall and weighs almost 10 pounds.  Some aren’t black and white like the Little Blue or “Blue Fairy” penguin of New Zealand that measures only 16 inches tall and weighs 2 1/2 pounds.

This craft could be a lead in to further discussion of penguins or a follow up to reading about or watching penguins in action.  These directions are for your “standard” penguin, but don’t be afraid to create one of the “lesser known” varieties!  I used an adaptation of a post on www.discountschoolsupply.com for this craft.


 Toilet Paper Roll Penguins

Supplies:

toilet paper roll/black construction paper/white paper/orange or brown construction paper/crayons or markers/scissors/glue stick

*Adults should prep the pieces for younger children.  Provide a template on heavy card stock for older children to trace their own pieces.

Directions:

1.  Cut the black construction paper to size for the penguin.  Glue the black construction paper around the cardboard roll for the penguin’s body.

2.  Cut out two circles for the head (the black one should be larger than the white one), a white oval for the tummy, orange or brown webbed feet (we omitted these because they were flimsy) and a black pair of wings.  *See picture.

3.  Glue the oval onto the front of the penguin’s body, the feet so they stick out from the bottom of the roll and the wings on the side/around the back.

4.   Glue the small white circle on top of the larger black circle.  Draw a face.  Then, glue the head onto the penguin.

5.  You can give your penguin more character by adding scarves or hats with scraps of paper, rick rack, etc.

My daughter was two years old at the time when we did this craft and she loved it.  Initially, the plan was to make a couple of penguins, but she wanted a family.  She has played with them A LOT!  It’s been almost two years and she still plays with them even though they look very worn.


Take it a step further….

•  Create a habitat for your penguins to play in.
• Pretend you are a penguin and waddle around the house.
• Watch videos of real penguins.
• Create life size pictures of a variety of penguins or measure out how tall some of them are on the floor or door.  Children can lie or stand to see how they measure up to each kind of penguin.
• Read books about penguins!  One book that we really enjoyed was Penguins, Penguins, Everywhere! by Bob Barner.

 For more fun, educational activities and recipes, check out my blog, The Master’s Daughter.




 
 Angela Pounders is a transplant to Prince William County from Arlington, VA.  She is blessed to be a stay at home mama to two beautiful girls.  As a former teacher (as well as preschool director and Children and Family Director), she is always on the look out for fun, easy and educational things to do with her girls.  She also loves to share her ideas and you can find more crafts and recipes at her blog,The Master’s Daughter.  You can also find her on Facebook.