How to Make a Tessellation Bird

A tessellation is shapes made of paper, ceramics or plastic put together, side-by-side to make a pattern. Sumerians, in 4,000 B.C., were the first people to use tessellations made of clay tiles to decorate their homes. You can create this type of art at home with some inexpensive craft supplies. Making a tessellation bird is a particularly good craft for children because it helps to teach them shapes.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• 2 sheets of brown paper
• 1 sheet of blue paper
• Scissors
• Ruler
• White craft glue or stick glue

1. Cut a square that is 2-by-2 inches. Paste the square in the center of the blue piece of paper. This will be the body of your tessellation bird.

2. Draw a square that is 2-by-2 inches on a piece of paper. Draw a circle inside the square that touches the edges of the square. Cut out the circle. Cut the circle in half. Butt the flat side of the circle against the top of the square and glue it down. This is the head.

3. Cut another square that is 2-by-2 inches. Cut it in half. Butt the triangle up against the top of the corner of the square so that the triangle is pointing up and just the corner of the square and the triangle are touching. Glue it down. This is the wing of the tessellation bird. Repeat on the opposite side with the other triangle.

4. Cut two more squares that are 2-by-2 inches. Cut the squares in half. Cut the resulting triangles in half.

5. Place a small triangle on the bottom of the wing. The bottoms of the triangles should be against each other. The smaller triangle can be either centered or moved to the end of the wing, depending on the look you like. Glue it down and repeat on the other wing.

6. Take a small triangle and butt it up against the bottom of the square so that the point of the triangle is pointing down. This is the tail of the paper bird.

7. Cut one of the small triangles in half. Cut it in half again and place it so that the bottom of the triangle is against the top of the head. This is the beak of your paper bird.

Tips & Warnings

• The bottom of the triangles in this craft are the long sides of the triangles. The tops are the angle made by the shortest sides of the triangle.

References

• Tessellation Facts
• Article Idea Adapted from this Pattern

Resources

• More Tessellation Bird Patterns

[Magentaslb]

on 10/21/2009 Nice rainy day project for kids...5*s