October art project: make a flappy bird!

October 2020 virtual arts drop-in: Raven with Flapping Wings

You will need:

Raven Parts template photocopied onto cardstock. Feel free to decorate your raven with symmetrical (same on both sides) patterns, or leave it plain.

• Office Brads
• Ribbon ( I used shiny birthday package ribbon)
• Large, thin rubber bands
• Scissors, Glue, Large stick pin
• Googly Eyes
• Bead for end of Ribbon (optional)

This Raven project is based on the book Raven by Gerald McDermott. It is based on the Pacific Northwest Native American Mythology, but we tried to make the project somewhat generic in order to avoid suggestion of cultural appropriation. You can re-do it to make it a generic flapping bird (no Native American connotations) if you wish. With some ingenuity, you can also get the legs to flap, but we did not include those directions. It can be scaled down and all appendages (wings and feet) can be attached just with brads if the mechanism is too difficult for small kids. You can also scale up and down the size.

Click here for the Raven Parts template.

Click here for the instructions.

Watch the instructional video here.