Penguin Crafts Ideas
Penguins have become a popular animal in recent years among both adults and children. There are a whole host of crafts that you can eat, wear or decorate to bring more penguins into your life. Penguin crafts are a perfect activity for the holiday season or to spice up a boring snow day. If your young one loves penguins, considering doing all of these crafts for a penguin-themed birthday party.
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Cookie Cupcakes
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You'll need a box of chocolate-covered cookies, like Girl Scouts Thin Mints, to create a penguin to top your cupcakes. Make a batch of cupcakes as you would normally. You can vary the colors and flavors as you see fit. Frost all of the cupcakes with white vanilla icing. Reserve a small amount of white frosting. Cut the cookies in half using a sharp knife. You'll need three halves for each cupcake. Place one cookie half at the top edge of each cupcake, rounded edge facing out, to make the head. For the body, place two halves directly under the head at an angle, so that a "V" of white frosting appears in the middle. Cut dried apricot or orange fruit leather into small triangles. Place three on each cupcake -- two as feet and one as a beak. You may need to use frosting to adhere the dried fruit to the cookie. To create eyes, place two small dollop of white frosting topped with mini chocolate chips above the orange beak.
Plastic Bottles
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Put your old plastic bottles to good use. Collect various sized plastic drink bottles. Two-liter soda bottles and 12-oz. water bottles are perfectly sized for adult and baby penguins. Pour one part white acrylic paint and two parts black acrylic paint into each bottle. Re-cap the bottle and shake it vigorously to mix the paint and coat the inside of each bottle. Remove the cap. Paint a large white oval from the nozzle to the bottom of the bottle. Paint a small Styrofoam ball with black acrylic paint for the head. Leave the bottles and balls out overnight so that the paint, both inside and outside, can dry. Cut sets of wings from sheets of black craft foam and beaks and feet from orange or yellow craft foam. Glue or tape the wings and feet to the bottle. Attach the beak to the foam ball along with a set of googly eyes to make the face. Glue or tape the heads to the bottle caps. Allow them to dry completely and screw the heads onto the bodies. You can use these plastic bottle penguins to decorate your home or yard any time of year.
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Pine Cones
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Paint and an acorn cap will turn ho-hum pine cones into penguins. Collect fallen pine cones from your backyard or a local park. You'll need a few extra pine cones and some acorn caps to create the features on your penguins. Remove a few large scales from your extra pine cones; you'll need two for each penguin you wish you make. Cut the scales to a point so that they resemble wings. Paint the bottom two-thirds of the acorn caps white, leaving the pointed tip brown. Paint two small eyes with brown or black paint. Paint the front of the pine cone white, creating a "tummy" for your penguin. Allow the paint to dry completely. Glue the wings and head into place.
Costume
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Turn an over-sized sweatshirt into a penguin costume for young children. Purchase a black sweatshirt in an adult size, so that it hangs as low to the ground as possible. Cut the ends of the sleeves off so your child has use of his arms and the sleeves resemble wings. Glue an oval-shaped piece of white fleece to the center of the front of the sweatshirt. Pair the sweatshirt with orange socks, sneakers and an orange baseball cap.
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References
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