My second and third graders created this beautiful winter Cardinal art lesson, but it would be appropriate for fourth grade as well. It’s very easy considering how stunning it is. Download my handout below for the instructional guide to help make a quick demonstration on your whiteboard for the kids to get drawing!
Watch the video tutorial here…
WHAT YOU’LL NEED:
- 12″ x 18″ white sulphite paper
- Light colored oil pastel
- Light blue, black, red, yellow and white tempera paint (Optional: metallic blue)
- Q-Tips for snow
DRAWING THE CARDINAL
This is the picture I sourced from the internet as an example of the cardinal. It’s not necessary to draw the entire body, just the head and neck area. Have the children use a light colored oil pastel to draw with.
Start by folding the paper in half to make a crease going horizontally on your paper. Have the children place their hand above the line near the top and middle of the paper and draw a dot for the birds eye.
Then, draw the beak. Once the beak is in place, it’s easy to draw the cardinal’s crown and head. After drawing the entire bird, draw branches and lines for twigs.
PAINTING THE BACKGROUND AND BIRD
Set out the light blue paint and paint the background first. This takes the most time; painting carefully around the feathers and twigs.
Try teaching the children the smoothing technique for this part of the project so that their paint doesn’t create big blobs or pale areas throughout the background.
After painting the background, paint the red cardinal, then the yellow beak, brown twigs and then finally, the black mask and outline.
FINAL STEP
Use the white paint and Q-Tip to add a dot for the eye. Create snowflakes throughout the project to make the whole piece stunning!
Download my Winter Cardinal step-by-step guide from the December Freebie Pack below…
Second and Third Grade Winter Art Cardinals…
Click HERE for more Deep Space Sparkle winter art lessons.
Note: I believe this idea originated from the fabulous Painted Paper Flicker Stream, although it may have come from a link. I’m terrible at organizing my bookmarks, so I apologize to the creator of this beautiful lesson.
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I LOVE THIS!! I will be doing it next year for sure! I have already done winter cardinals this year. 😉
I tried this activity with my 8 and 6 year olds today. We had quite a bit of fun. I love that they learned how to make brown by mixing colors. On their own they told me it is like mixing ketchup and relish on a hot dog. 🙂
I absolutley love your site! It's exactly what I was looking for. I live just south of you in Ventura. My oldest just started kinder this last fall and I want to start volunteering teaching art in her class and your site will be a tremendous help!
Great results! I will be trying this in class! I'll post ours when we do it!
great job with this blog! i used "how to draw a pig" lesson and it worked out great. i also love "giraffe can't dance". i'm new in business (i started teaching art in October) and very enthusiatic. i hope you won't mind checking out my blog :). keep up the good work!
my blog
http://www.toata-lumea-picteaza.blogspot.com/
gorgeous!
what fun your kids must have!
blessings,
lea
Thank you so much for share your art and works. I always love to do art work with my boys and this is great to start!
How do you make sure the paint doesn’t blend? For example, my kids painted American flags once, and some of my students had pink stripes because the red and white paint mixed. Love your web site!
Blending wasn’t a problem here, but if it was for you, then you just need to do one thing: make sure the red paint is dry before adding the white snowflakes. This goes with all paint. Also, make sure you use q-tips dipped in thick white tempera paint. if a child uses a paint brush that has water on it, the water will dilute the white paint and make it runny. Hope these tips helps. It’s a beautiful lesson.
When the paint mixed before, I waited a week and the paint still mixed. Do you recommend that there should be very little water on the brush so the paint won’t mix? Thanks for answering these questions for me. It helps me a lot.
What a great lesson! I did this with Grade 5 students and the results are wonderful. I hung them in the hall and have been getting rave reviews. Thanks so much!
Just tried this project but changed it a bit. The results are on my blog and I thanked you too. So thanks!
I did this lesson today with 4th graders. They loved it and I loved the lesson, but I was disappointed with their painting abilities, or should I say lack of. I was utterly amazed they couldn’t paint within the lines they drew. How do you get them to paint nice crisp edges between colors?
I think two things help a great deal…brushes and water (or lack of). Do you see the red brush in the picture? I use Big Kid Choice brushes. These particular ones have a blunt edge. It really helps define the line. Also, these brushes are great for smoothing the paint into an even color. Check my art supply list (side bar icon) to see where you can buy the brushes.
Also, don’t use too much water. In fact, you could almost get away without putting any water on the table. It’s not necessary and as long as you add water to the paint before giving it to the kids, the paint should have a good consistency. Paint the sky first (no water) then paint the red bird. Water will make a mess out of the paint and will dilute the intensity of the tempera paint.
Same goes for the black paint. Make sure they use a very very small brush. A number 6 brush on’t cut it! Instead of a marker, try black oil pastel. It’s the next best thing.
And I forgot one thing…They outlined with black paint and that was very difficult for them. Would it have been better with a sharpie? Is there a secret or technique to get them to paint nice lines? HELP!! Thanks!
I did this with 2nd graders and it came out GREAT! They were all impressed with their works of art.
I did this project over three class times with second grade just before Christmas break, then hung them up when we returned. The compliments and attention to the results were amazing! Teachers and parents were so impressed with the work! I actually had a third grader ask if they were going to do that lesson. Thanks for making such a great product easy and fun for the students!
Chicago,IL
This was always one of my most favorite lessons. It’s just so beautiful and if you use the blue metallic paint, well, it’s just so pretty!
Easy and beautiful – Just finished these with 2nd grade and they had no problems. We took it slow drawing step by step as I modeled on the board, and then painted slowly one color at a time – blue, red,brown, yellow, black. My twist – We used cardboard squares and dipped the edges in green paint to stamp pineneedles along the branches.When everything was dry we outlined in black oil pastel ( my students are not successful outlining with black paint we’ve tried. Don’t know how you do it) and lastly we added snowflakes. Thanks again
This turned out wonderful in my grade 3 class, I got many compliments from the school staff! Thank you!
I’m so luckly to found you site! Thanks! 🙂
I wanted to share with you a powerpoint to use on a Promethean Board about this project. If you would be interested in seeing it, let me know.
Thanks and GREAT lesson ideas on your site!!!! You are an inspiration!
I did this with my 2nd grade class today, and they turned out beautifully! Every student was so successful and proud. It may honestly be my favorite art project ever! You have the best art blog I’ve ever seen, and I’ve looked at a lot of them. Thank you so much for your inspiration!
I did this lesson with my grade 2s. Beautiful and easy. The class used black pastels to outline everything 1st and then we used the watercolour pucks for painting. The children are getting much better at independently choosing the right brush for each job and controlling the amount of water on their brush. I am always amazed when I try one of these art ideas…the results are fabulous!
Hi!
I am teaching elementary school for the first time this year after a transfer from middle school. Your site has been a tremendous resource for me and I thank you so much! I just completed this project with my students and it turned out beautifully! I just wanted to point out one small critique: cardinals’ beaks are black as fledglings, turn orange during immaturity, and are brilliant red upon maturity. I noticed this when showing John James Audubon’s painting of cardinals to the class. Thanks again for sharing another stunning and successful lesson!
love this!
a few questions.
can we do on 9×12 canvases or watercolor paper?
can i skip the metallic paint?
thanks! cant wait to try it on my after school art class
Absolutely. If you do canvas, switch to acrylic paint and if you use watercolor, switch to watercolor paints. Try a sample to see what results you get. I think both alternatives would be lovely! Let me know how they turn out.
What a great and simple project! I did this with my 1-3 graders and with my K5&6 class!! And they all did a fabulous job! We had so much fun painting and I love seeing their little fine-motor skills, and eye-hand co-ordination developing. Thank you so much for posting this!
stunning!
I like the design.Easy enough and fills the page. I see these in my yard all the time and yes, when it snowed. This is my next lesson. Thanks
I volunteer as an art docent for my sons third grade class and we did this project last week. It turned out amazing!! Wish I could post a pic here – they are beautiful!
LOVE IT! Thank you…..Most venues are so complicated on line. This has been very helpful.
Please send winter cardinal drawing guide . The link is not on YouTube video.
https://www.deepspacesparkle.com/monthly-freebie-pack/
Like it! Can’t wait to try it with my students.
I didn’t get the cardinal drawing guide in my Freebie pack.
Hi Melissa. This is a NEW addition the old link won’t have these handouts. If you follow this link we will send you the updated Freebie Pack:
https://www.deepspacesparkle.com/monthly-freebie-pack/
-Hannah (Team Sparkle)
So beautiful.
I am using this and several other projects I found on Pinterest as a build your own monthly art box for my son. This is the one he will open for Christmas. I am excited. Thank you so much.
Love this!!
Used the winter cardinal lesson over 2 days with my 2nd graders. Hard to do as whole class. Day 2 allowed 7-8 kids at a time to finish their project. Much better this way. They came out lovely.
Interesting lesson!
Loved it! My third and fourth graders are enjoying this lesson and learning some good skills along the way!
These are gorgeous!
I can’t seem to find the Winter Cardinal drawing guide …can yo help me?
Hello! No problem it’s tricky to see, we’ll fix that. There is a photo with Patty that say December Freebie (in yellow it says click to access now). You can find all of our freebie packs here: https://www.deepspacesparkle.com/monthly-freebie-pack/
-Hannah (Team Sparkle)
I LOVE THIS SO MACH I SUB and I love it I fell like I want to keep it for ever
hiii I love it I do that in my art class and my classmits like HOW DID U DO THAT
thanks!
Lovely project! I will try it with my students.
The download link is not working, are these handouts still available?
I Love this!
we are trying to do it with my kids they like it
What grade level would this be good for?
My daughter in fourth grade tried creating the cardinal during Holidays and it came out really good. She used her black marker for the outline.
Do you have objectives for this lesson or standards that match?
Hi! We have all the art standards for each grade level as a resource (along with many more) inside The Sparkler’s Club for our members. To find out more about The Sparkler’s Club join our waitlist. https://deepspacesparkle.lpages.co/join-waitlist/
Where can I find the drawing guide to this lesson?
Hi Tammy! Thanks so much for your interest in our lessons. If you scroll down you should see a blue box with a yellow box the says CLICK TO DOWNLOAD. When you add your name and email we will send the lesson directly to your inbox. Are you using the Firefox browser? We’ve noticed that Firefox doesn’t work as well on our website so you should try Safari or Chrome. Enjoy.
How do I access the written directions/examples from your website?
Hi Belinda! If you click the download button and add your email address we will send the lesson directly to your inbox. Be sure to check your Spam or Junk folders to make sure it didn’t end up there. Enjoy.
I love it
How can I find the guide on drawing a cardinal, it looks like there’s a printable, I’m not sure how to acces it?
Hi Kristina! If you are interested in a lesson you can scroll down and click the download button and add your email address. We will send the lesson directly to your inbox. Be sure to check your Spam or Junk folders to make sure it didn’t end up there. We’ve noticed our website doesn’t work well with the Firefox browser so please be sure to use Safari or Chrome. Enjoy
Cute
this is awesome
When I try to download this, it spins and never completes. Is there another way to download the directions sheet? I would love to do with my 2nd graders! Thank you!
Hi Anna! If you click the download button and add your email address we will send the lesson directly to your inbox. Be sure to check your Spam or Junk folders to make sure it didn’t end up there. We have found that both the Chrome or Safari browsers work best so be sure to try using one of those. I just tested the link and everything worked. When you receive the email scroll to the bottom and click to download packet. If you continue to have trouble you can email support@deepspacesparkle.com
I love these lessons!
It´s great
Great lesson