Peacock Art Activities
Peacocks are large, colorful pheasants, typically blue and green in color, and are known for their iridescent tails. These tail feathers spread out in a distinctive train that is more than 60 percent of the bird's total body length and boast colorful "eye" markings of blue, gold, red, and other hues. For that reason, many people may be inclined to use them in their art. In this blog, I’ll talk about how to paint a peacock - easily!
How to Paint a Peacock - Easily!
Materials needed:
White tagboard
Tempera paint (pink, yellow, orange, white)
Paint rollers
Pre-painted blue paper
Peacock template
Scissors and glue
Directions for How to Paint a Peacock: Have students choose a color (pink, yellow, or orange) and get in groups, so they can share paint. Give them paint rollers and have them paint a background on white tagboard. Add a little white to the colors to create some variations.
Next, have your students trace the peacock template on the pre-painted blue paper. Once it’s traced, give them scissors to cut it out. Lastly, have them glue their peacock cutout to the background, even if the paint is still wet. Now, that’s how you draw a peacock easily! Done, and done.
If your students are obsessed with drawing or painting animals (like mine are), I have an Animal Art Lessons Bundle with over 26 different art projects. In includes a variety of different animals and lessons because my goal is always for art to be engaging and fun for students. I love used game-based art, so many of the projects include game templates where students roll a dice and draw the corresponding shape. I really like to use game templates because it pushes students outside their artistic comfort zones, and gets every student involved. No more, “I don’t know what to draw!” Check out the entire bundle below.
Peacock Art Game
If you’re making a unit study, or even creating an art camp, consider throwing in a fun peacock game. “Balance the Peacock Feather” is a simple, but fun game that can be played by using feathers and balancing it on different body parts
First, have the students try to balance the feather on their hands. Then try other body parts such as the nose and fingertips. Get extra creative and add music. While the music plays, they try to balance. When it stops, freeze.
One of the best things about this project is how differently they all look when they are finished.
How to Paint a Peacock Feather
Materials needed:
Tagboard
Acrylic paints (green, purple, blue)
Poster-sized paper taped to wall
Green papers
Black and white tempera
Black (diluted) liquid water color in spray bottle
Sponge brushes
Directions for How to Paint a Peacock Feather: Have students paint several sheets of tagboard with a variety of green, purple, and blue acrylic paints*. Once the paint dries, have your students use shades of green, purple, and blue construction paper crayons to add patterns to their painted papers.
Next, guide students in using templates to trace feathers onto those same papers and then cut them out. Assemble the peacock by using the feathers and precut eyes. Lastly, draw the top of the head feathers with construction paper crayons. Add touches of glitter if desired. And ta-da! You have a completed peacock art project for kids.
*Choose a few good peacock-related books to read, or watch a short video about peacocks to give pictures time to dry. Or, split the activity into two parts and do the painting early in the day.
Extra Activities to Consider
As with any unit study, there are always extra activities to consider. Beforehand, locate several good books that talk about peacocks. You can also find some pretty cool stories that feature a peacock as the main character.
Another idea is to include peacock-related snacks like cookies or purple, blue, and green colored drinks. If you’re doing this in the summertime, incorporate blue, green, and purple ice pops.
There is a lot you can do with peacocks, and I hope you are inspired to try some of what I mentioned with your students!