Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Cereal Box Robins

There's an old nursery rhyme that says -


The north wind doth blow,

And we shall have snow,

And what will poor Robin do then, poor thing?

He'll sit in the barn,

To keep himself warm,

And hide his head under his wing, poor thing.


It seems to be holding true here. There is definitely a north wind blowing, and promising snow. And, while I've heard rumors of robins in town already, we have yet to see any in our yard. Apparently, they are hiding out until the good weather arrives to stay.

In the meantime, we're reading Priscilla Beiz Jenkins' Nest Full of Eggs, another of the level 1, Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science series. And, turning our empty cereal boxes into rocking robin cards, an idea I found on Marghanita's Nature blog, where strangely, to me, it's listed as a Christmas craft. I can see we've got a geography project ahead of us - Where do robins go in the winter?

But, for now the craft...


The girls (my youngest two ages 5 and 3), traced a couple of circles on the back of an unfolded cereal box.


I cut them out, and folded them in half.


And, since our box was orange, I also used it to cut out some diamonds for beaks, and strips for tail feathers, otherwise I could have used construction paper.


The girls added the beaks, and feathers with glue, and we pressed everything flat with cans, while the glue dried (did you know that this months Unplugged project theme is flat?)



Once everything was dry, the girls added googly eyes, and wads of red tissue paper to the robin breasts.



They look quite springy on our windowsill...


...even if the sky outside, does not.


For more story stretching arts and crafts projects for children, check out this week's stART (story+ art) link up, hosted by A Mommy's Adventures.

Or, to find more flat projects click over to this month's Unplugged Project page, at Unplug Your Kids.

It's great to be a homeschooler.

22 comments:

htebazile said...

Those birds look so sweet, great craft!

Katie said...

Oh wow I really really like these, I've never seen this one before. Nothing says spring like robin red breast to me! I also run ABC & 123: A Learning Cooperative. I'd love to feature this in an upcoming post, if you'd like us to please email us a direct link to this post abc123learning@gmail.com

Natalie PlanetSmarty said...

The robins are beautiful. I need to get out our LRAFO books - we have that one, but didn't read it yet. I hope you'll have a better weather soon!

sbswtp said...

Great project! My mom used to sing that nursery rhyme while we were growing up. I had forgotten all about it:)

Brimful Curiosities said...

The snow managed to miss us and the robins were out in the street this morning. I love the craft...a wonderful way to recycle a cereal box!

Christianne @ Little Page Turners said...

I've seen these half-circle birds around, but yours are especially sweet! Where do you live? It's mid-80s and HOT here in VA.

An Almost Unschooling Mom said...

Christianne - We're in Montana, in the middle of the Rockies, so a cold blustry spring, is not really rare.

Playing by the book said...

What brilliant looking robins! Now you just need to be able to hear them sing!

Ticia said...

I keep hoping you'll get nicer weather soon, it has to come soon doesn't it?
You know this could be adapted to all sorts of things. Now my head is spinning with ideas.

Trudie said...

Those birds turned out awesome! They did a wonderful job!

Rachel@oneprettything.com said...

Aww, those are so cute! Thanks so much for the how-to, I'll be linking.

Unknown said...

The birds looks so wonderful!

Unknown said...

Good job! I love recycled projects!

Michelle said...

Wow these look amazing. I love recycled art projects too. I have to say I was so excited when I saw a robin in the yard the other day! I will have to check the library for this book.

Thank you for linking up and sharing your book and art project!

Jennifer said...

Those are wonderful! I think we will be making these this afternoon. Our sky sadly is not looking very Spring like today either. In fact we are seeing snow. *Yuck*

Happy Spring!

Kelly said...

So cute! You are a FunMum!

BlueCat said...

Cute birds! Love robins!

The girl who painted trees said...

these are sweet:)
http://theadventuresofbear.blogspot.com

The Artful Parent said...

I LOVE your robins! We may have to make some today...

Jo Julia said...

Hello- I found this craft on Make and Takes and would love to link and use the photo on Ohdeedoh.com tomorrow. Would that be alright? Thank you.
Julia, Editor, Ohdeedoh.com

An Almost Unschooling Mom said...

Julia - That would be great! Thanks for asking :)

angee said...

LOVE this!! I will be linking for Earth Day this year! Thank you!