I Heart Crafty Things

Toucan Craft

Are you sick of paper plates yet?? I can’t seem to create something without using them lately. The inspiration for this craft came from Chalk Talk. I saw how they used a paper plate for a beak and it was an instant winner for me!

At our recent trip to the Tracy Aviary, my son was delighted to see a Toucan. He told me it was his most favorite bird he saw while at the Aviary. That definitely warrants a craft don’t you think?  🙂

Materials you need:

  • Toucan Pattern Template
  • 2 sheets Black Cardstock Paper
  • quarter sheet of brown cardstock paper
  • small paper plate
  • red and yellow tissue paper
  • red, green, orange paint (or whatever colors you want to paint the beak)
  • black paint
  • paint brush
  • large googly eye
  • school glue
  • white crayon
  • scissors
Directions:

1. Cut your small paper plate in half. Cut the end of one of the half’s off and give it a little bit of a curved shape at the bottom to form the beak. Here’s a close-up of the beak pictured below so you see what I mean.

2. Paint the full half section of the paper plate black. This section will be used for the wings of the Toucan. Paint the beak section with the colors of your choice. We modeled our beak after the Toucan we saw at the Aviary, so my son used red, light green and orange in his beak. Let the pieces dry completely.

3. Next cut out your Toucan body and feet. I have made my template available for you on Google Drive: Toucan Template. I traced the body template onto a black piece of cardstock paper for my son to cut out and I cut out the two feet on brown cardstock paper.

4. For the tail feathers, trace your child’s closed hand on a piece of black cardstock paper and cut it out, then have your child glue it onto his Toucan body.

5. To replicate the yellow and red feathers on the Toucan face and underbelly, I outlined the areas with white crayon, then my son glued yellow and red crumpled tissue paper in those areas.

 

6. To finish the Toucan, glue on the feet, a large wiggly eye, the black wing and the colorful beak.

 

It’s almost as cute as this other Toucan I saw at the Tracy Aviary….
But not quite!!!  😉

Comments

  2. YESSSSS! (Imagine me throwing my arms in the air and looking up to the heavens!) I love how the beak is a paper plate. And that little handprint tail is adorable! I am so excited to teach my class about toucans and now I have a craft to go with it! THANK YOU!!

    Reply

  10. I'm the Editorial Assistant for Fun Family Crafts and I wanted to let you know that we have featured your toucan! You can see it here:

    http://funfamilycrafts.com/paper-plate-toucan/

    If you have other kid friendly crafts, we'd love it if you would submit them. If you would like to display a featured button on your site, you can grab one from the right side bar of your post above. Thanks for a wonderful project idea!

    Reply

  11. I teach at a homeschool co-op, and my first graders are studying different countries around the world. As part of our Brazil day, we made these toucans and they turned out great! Thanks for sharing!

    Reply

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