Easter Peeps

Today we made some Easter eggs. Not the hard boiled dyed kind of Easter eggs, but something a little less messy and a bit more fluffy. This is an easy project that kids as young as two can do with little assistance. You will need:


glue (we used glue sticks to start but I wouldn't recommend it...they don't seem to hold very well)
yellow feathers
buttons or gogglely eyes
orange triangle (we used felt but construction paper would work just as well)
a large piece of white paper (I used a white 12x12 scrapbooking paper) and a small piece of construction paper (we used white but yellow would have been a better choice)
brads
5 to 6 patterned scrapbook paper (12x12 size) cut into strips of varying width



First have the children put glue on the entire surface of the large piece of white paper. I thought glue sticks would be perfect but they didn't hold the paper as the project evolved so we switched to good old white glue.

Next the children should take strips of paper and lay them across the gluey large white paper. They continue to do this until the paper is completely covered.

You'll end up with something like this. Or at least you should. Let it dry before moving on to the next step. I used 12x12 white scrapbook paper as a base which is why the strips cover the paper with no white showing. If you used construction paper you may want to trim it to 12x12 ahead of time.


An adult can now trace an egg shape onto the back of the paper and cut it out. If older children are doing this, they could probably trace and cut out the egg themselves.


While the children are waiting for the egg to dry they can begin work on the chicks. On the smaller white or yellow construction paper cut out another egg shape, smaller than the paper decorated egg they just made. This will become the chick. The children can paint glue over the top half, maybe just a little bit more, of the chick. Let the feathery decorating now begin. Have the kids completely cover the top of the chick in feathers. You don't need to do the bottom because it will be behind the egg and will not be seen,.

If the eggs are dry a grownup should zig zag cut it about 2/3 of the way up in preparation for the next step. Paint the lower half of the chick with glue.

Press the bottom of the egg onto the bottom of the chick so the chick looks like it is peeking out of the egg.

Add a face to the chick, We used buttons for the eyes and felt for the nose but you can use whatever you have on hand. We glued these pieces down and then it's time to let it dry again.

the last step is a grownups job. Put the top of the egg in place and push the brad through the egg and the chick to attach them together.

As you can see (even though the pictures aren't all that great) depending on how the eggs are cut out and what papers were used, the eggs are all unique and absolutely adorable. Have fun!