Bird Drawing and Painting Lesson for Kindergarteners

What could be more fun than paint and feathers? For Kinders, nothing...except maybe spatter painting!
This lesson involves three steps: A directed line drawing for the bird, painting and then adding the feathers.

Start with an oil pastel in a light color if using black paper or a dark color if using a light paper. The choice is yours and the combinations are endless.

Directed Line Drawing of the Bird

Everyone has their own method for drawing birds. I find this shape easy and recognizable enough for all kids to master. Start with a circle for the eye.
Tip: To ensure proper placement of the eye, I explain where the eye should go, then I have each child point to that place on their paper. After receiving a thumbs-up from me, we are ready to proceed. This is an important step as most children will put the eye anywhere on the page, resulting in frustration with the later steps.
On the right side of the page, directly in front of the eye, draw an arrow pointing to the eye. This is the beginning of the beak. From here, the illustrations should be enough to get you going.

Now that the children have drawn a bird, it's time to paint. I use tempera paint on the construction paper, but here is a tip. Add white tempera paint to your regular colors of blue, yellow, red and green. The added tint will help make the paint more vibrant on the black paper. If using white paper, there's no need to add the tint, unless you want a pastel look.

For the final flourish, add feathers! You can pick up a large pack at any craft stores. I usually set a limit of 3-4 feathers per student. This way, you eliminate the threat of covering up the entire painting!
Have fun.