First and Second Grade Wacky "Shapes" Bird

First we talked about line and shape.  Then we brainstormed to come up with different kinds of shapes.  After we had come up with a variety of shapes they drew their bird starting with the head, body and feet.  The students picked a shape and created a pattern in the body of the bird.  Then they added hair and other details.  Out come Sharpies!

They traced over all their pencil lines with a sharpie.  Last they used washable markers to add color (I had them stick to cool or warm colors) then paint with water, cut out the bird and paste unto a colored sheet of paper.

Simple.  The project was inspired largely from a project I had seen on deep space sparkle.  Since it was my first time meeting the students, I wanted a drawing project with color, but I did not want to break out the paints just yet.