Birds of Paradise Craft: Learning about Papua New Guinea

This article was written by Chelsea from Veritable Treasure, who is running a series of posts about introducing the country of Papua New Guinea to children.

Papua New Guinea is known for its bird watching, and probably most specifically the vast range of Birds of Paradise found within its borders. There are nearly 40 species of this bird found in PNG!

Birds of Paradise come in a variety of beautiful colors and forms, and have very unusual “dances” they perform. This video gives a brief introduction to the bird.

Even though most of us may not be able to see Birds of Paradise with our own eyes, I thought it would be fun for children to “create their own.” By introducing our children to wildlife of other countries, we can give them a love for the world and a desire to see new places!

Here are the instructions for making this craft:

Browse some pictures of Birds of Paradise so you child can see the colors and styles.

Gather the materials: a large sheet of paper, several smaller sheets of different colored paper, markers (green and brown at least), glue, scissors, and feathers.

Draw a branch and some leaves for your bird to sit on. (Sorry for my rushed leaves – my two-year-old really couldn’t wait to glue on the feathers so I had to do the first few steps quickly!)

Cut out the bird’s body, wings, and head. Glue them on the branch.

Draw on eyes and a beak.

Glue feathers for a tail!

My two-year-old was so excited to see his Bird of Paradise beside the ones we have hanging in his room. He kept saying, “Bird! Dame!” (dame = same)

I hope you had fun with this craft about Papua New Guinea!