You can create your very own toucan! Have fun creating a beautiful, festive bird with a stained glass beak. Your child will learn about drawing and cutting curves and how interesting a drawing can be when it is both translucent and opaque at the very same time!
What You Need:
- Colored construction paper, 11"x17” (we used green)
- Black construction paper for the bird face
- Yellow construction paper for the eye
- Colorful tissue paper (4 different colors)
- Pencil
- Scissors
- Glue stick
What You Do:
- Lay the colored construction paper horizontal. Draw the Tucan bill that will be cut out. Make it large enough side to side, so the tip of the bill almost reaches the opposite side of the paper. But don’t make it too tall. There should be at least 1-2” on the top and the bottom of the bill. The bill needs a large arch to look like a Tucan. Imagine drawing half of a rainbow for the top of the bill and a bit straighter line for the bottom of the bill.
- Cut out the bill from the colored paper.
- Cut out half a circle from the black paper to create the Tucan’s face. It helps to lay the green paper on top of the black paper and draw how far over you want the face to be glued onto the bill. Then, match up the back of where the head will be with the colored construction paper and draw a line so both edges match perfectly and create a straight edge. Cut out your Tucan face.
- Glue the face onto the front of the picture.
- Cut out a circle of yellow for the eye, and a smaller circle of black for the center of the eye. Set these aside for now.
- Turn your Tucan over so the back of the picture is facing up. Cut strips of four different colors of tissue paper. Set them down vertically across the Tucan bill, so they only overlap the width of a finger. Glue the tissue papers together into place with a glue stick. Then, glue around the edges of the back of the Tucan bill and press the tissue paper into place. Cut off any excess tissue paper so no tissue is overlapping the edges of the picture.
- Flip the paper over. Decide where you want the eyeball to be located. This can effect the expression of the Tucan depending on how you place it.
Hang your Tucan in a sunny window. During the day, you’ll see his shimmery stained glass beak, and at night, he’ll turn into a colorful picture!
By Ellen Dean
Ellen Dean has worked as an art educator in Thailand since 2005, working with both children and adults. She has also been a professional artist working in painting, sculpture and photography since 1996.
Add your own comment