Welcome to another Wacky Workshops project – a colourful bird made from newspaper.

There are so many fun crafts that can be made with newspaper and one of my favourites is newspaper sculpture.

Unlike paper mache, there is no need to make loads of glue and wait for it to dry before adding more layers, though this is also a fun activity. Did you see my posts How to Make Glamgorgious Easter Eggs and How to Make Heads Turn with Paper Mache?

Newspaper sculpture simply means scrunching and twisting the paper into the shape you want and then decorating it. Too easy.

This colourful bird was always a favourite in my kids’ workshops and the process of making the crepe paper balls is an excellent activity for fine motor skills.

SUPER EASY COLOURFUL BIRD OUT OF NEWSPAPER

MATERIALS

• Newspaper
• Sticky tape
• Crepe paper
• Tissue paper
• Yellow or orange construction paper
• Googly eyes
• Feathers
• Glue
• Scissors
• Wire and wooden rod (optional – for perch)

METHOD

• Grab a couple of sheets of newspaper – I used four but two will give you a smaller bird.
• Unfold the paper and place the sheets on top of each other.
• Grab the middle section and scrunch a ball shape (for the head).

• Place the sticky tape at the bottom of the ball – this will be the neck.
• Scrunch the inside sheets to make the front stick out, like the bird’s stomach.
• Place sticky tape under the stomach section to hold the shape, leaving the rest of the paper for the bird’s tail feathers.
• Cover the whole thing with a piece of tissue paper, placing sticky tape at the neck and under the stomach as you did previously.

• Cut strips of colourful crepe paper to go around the tail section and up the back of the bird’s body.
• Cut a fringe onto the strips and start glueing them to the bird, starting at the bottom and overlapping slightly.
• Make small balls out of the crepe paper by rolling a small portion between your fingers.

• Glue the balls in rows across the stomach and all over the head.

• Make a triangle shape out of the construction paper for the beak and glue into place.
• Glue on the googly eyes and add a few feathers at the tails and on either side of the stomach, for the wings.
• Now that your wonderfully wacky colourful bird is finished you may want to make a perch for it.

• Twist some wire to one end of a wooden rod.
• Gently bend the wire and secure the other end of it to the other end of the rod.
• Glue the bird to the wooden rod. You can hang it using a paper clip hook.

I hope you enjoyed this craft. Please share if you did.

Happy crafting and have a gleeful week, Tamuria.