Hummingbird Art Project

Spring is a wonderful time to learn about hummingbirds! Not only are they amazing creatures with many unique features, but they are in almost every backyard in North America! You can simply hang a hummingbird feeder and watch as they come visit you each morning. We love hummingbirds so much, that we’ve put together a free hummingbird unit study for you! And today, we have a fun, hands-on hummingbird art project that is great for students of all ages.

Hummingbird Zentangle Art

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Materials:

Hummingbird Template
Bleeding Tissue Paper (or Pre-Cut Bleeding Tissue Paper)
Watercolor Paper
Water & Paintbrush

Step 1: Print our Free Hummingbird Template

First, you’ll want to print our free hummingbird template for your students to fill in with zentangle designs. There are a zillion zentangle ideas online so do a quick search to print some examples of different designs and patterns ton inspire your kiddos. Show students how to use different patterns for each section of the hummingbird.

Step 2: Cut Out & Glue to Watercolor Paper

Cut out the hummingbird and glue it to a sheet of watercolor paper. You’ll want to prepare your area with a small dish of water and a bowl of the bleeding tissue paper. Dip your paint brush into the water and apply a small amount to the background (being careful not to get your zentangle wet). (With younger students you might create the background separately, then paste the hummingbird on top once dry.)

Step 3: Place your Colors!

Use a circle punch to cut circle shapes from your bleeding tissue paper. This is not required, but the circles do help give the background a pretty effect. Start placing the bleeding tissue paper onto the wet parts of your background. Overlap different colors for a fun blending effect. You might do a rainbow of colors, or choose to stick with warm or cool colors.

Step 4: Fill the Background

You’ll want t fill your entire background for any area that you want color. The tissue paper will bleed a bit so you will see the colors spread a little. Set your project aside to dry completely.

Step 5: Peel off the Tissue Paper

Once your project is dry, you can use a dry paint brush to gently wipe away the tissue paper. Most of the circles will fall off easily, and you might have to peel a couple off by hand. Underneath, you’ll see that the color from the tissue paper has transferred to the watercolor paper to create a stunning background.

Step 6: Hummingbird Art Project is Complete!

You can see that the blues and greens make a beautiful background for this hummingbird! It almost looks like a blurry photo effect with trees and sky in the distance. Put your beautiful hummingbird art on display!