Arctic Animal Art Projects!

Today we’re sharing some of our favorite “Arctic Animal” themed projects! We have something for every age group. Let us know if you try any of these at home!

Collage A Walrus

What You’ll Need:

• Construction paper

• Walrus Template

• Glue stick

• Scissors

• Markers (these retractable ones by Crayola have been a game changer, no more missing caps!)

• Pencil/eraser

• “Puffy” Paint - mix a 1:1 ratio of shaving cream and glue

Instructions:

1. Paint your snow ground using the puffy paint. Be sure to glop the paint on thick as it will dry puffy.

2. Draw your arctic animal on a piece of construction paper. Feel free to use our walrus template or get creative and draw your own. Cut it out.

3. Glue your animal down to the snow.

4. Add details to your animal using cut paper and markers.

5. Add falling snow to the background and on top of your animal.

“Puffy” paint is made by mixing glue and shaving cream.

Air Dry Clay Narwhal

What You’ll Need:

• Air dry clay (we love Crayola’s Model Magic brand the best)

• Clay texture tools

• Google eyes

• Permanent marker

• Washable glue

Instructions:

1. Roll a piece of Model Magic clay into a ball. The ball will form the narwhal’s head.

2. Use your finger to pull clay away from the head to form the tail.

3. Use texture tools to make the tail and the fins.

4. Choose a color for the horn. Roll it long like a worm. Wrap the clay up in a coil shape and then twist it into a horn. Glue it on.

5. Add additional details to your narwhal by using a permanent marker and glue/google eyes.

Model Magic clay narwhal

Paint With Arctic Animals

We love process art for kids of all ages (learn more here!) so we had to include some painting with arctic animals!

What You’ll Need:

• Toy arctic animals

• Washable paint

• Paper

• Container for the paint (you can use a tray, a plate or some recycled take out containers)

Instructions:

1. Pour some washable paint onto your tray or plate.

2. Dip your animals into the paint and make them walk across your paper. Experiment with using different animals to create different types of marks on your paper. Remember, this project is more about the process than the end product!

Painting with polar bears

Draw & Watercolor A Polar Bear

What You’ll Need:

• Watercolor paints

• Watercolor paper

• Brush/water cup (we love these no spill cups)

• Permanent marker

• Pencil/eraser

• Salt (just basic table salt or kosher salt will do)

• White crayon or oil pastel

Instructions:

1. Draw your polar bear using a pencil & an eraser. Use our step-by-step guide below or design your own.

2. Outline your pencil marks with a permanent marker.

3. Draw stars in the background using a white crayon. Make sure to press down hard.

4. Fill in the background using watercolor paints. Paint over the crayon/marker lines as it will resist the paint.

5. Sprinkle salt over the wet watercolor paint. Once it is dry, discard the excess salt revealing a nice texture underneath.
   

Watercolor Polar Bear

Sensory Play ideas

There are so many fun Sensory Play ideas that work well with this theme. Below are a few of our favortes!

And, don’t forget about homemade glittery play dough! For our recipe, check out this blog post.

Feed the Penguins

What You’ll Need:

• Toy fish

• Toy penguins

• Ice Water

• Strainer with a handle

• Bowl or we love using a sectioned chip and dip tray

Instructions:

1. Fill either the outside of a sectioned tray or a bowl with ice water and fish.

2. Kids use the strainer to search the ice water for fish to feed the penguins.

Instant Snow

What You’ll Need:

• Instant Snow

• Tray - we love a tray with high edges - busser tubs work great!

• Scoopers, toy animals, play ice cubes, etc.

Instructions:

1. Follow the instructions on your instant snow packet (If using North Pole snow, you mix with 4 cups of water).

2. Pour the snow into a bin and add lots of toys and scoopers.

You can also do this same setup with kinetic sand!