Oh! How Colorful Wildlife Can Be!

Since we recreated the Panama Flag a few days ago, the next item on our to-do list was to make a craft. One of our family favorite activities each month is learning about the wildlife of our current destination. This was no exception. We looked at images of the various birds, mammals, amphibians and insects of Panama. When I told my littles that they had to pick and animal to create a piece of art, they had a hard time choosing. Aiden went from a Spider, to a bat and finally decided on a frog. Eliana went from a Coati to a monkey, and settled on a butterfly. I opted to focus on the Ocelot, because I like "big cats", also because on a trip to upstate New York a couple of years ago, we saw one at a zoo. I was completely enthralled by it, even though it was eating some kind of really gross raw meat. This was our  first and only real life encounter with an ocelot. 

Once we decided that we wanted to make wildlife art, I introduced my littles to an art form native to Panama. The native Kuna women create Mola Art in the clothing that they make. I thought this art form looked really great and since (as I first mentioned here) I can't sew, I pulled out some art supplies from my art college days. (I want you to know that this is a HUGE event, because I never let my littles use my supplies, they are expensive and it's hard to watch my littles use them in the way that kids use art supplies.) Using construction paper, and dry pastels ($30!!!) we tried to recreate the Mola Art by drawing animals with bright colors and then creating geometric forms around the animals. I have to say, I was so impressed with how my littles respected the supplies, I am very likely to let them use them again. And so you all don't think I am a total cheap-o and that I am whining about the cost of my art supplies, my littles have more than enough art supplies, so I usually feel like they should use their own. 

My completed Mola Inspired Ocelot.

This is the part where I tell you that my littles didn't quite get the concept of Mola Art. They kind of were doing their own thing. They started out trying to recreate the style, but they kept feeling like it wasn't working right. Eventually, they asked me if they could just make their art, by their own style. 

Eliana's butterfly. 

Aiden's frog. 

I love the colors that my littles chose and while they didn't quite get the warning about how easily pastels smudge, they did a great job working with this new medium. I think we are very likely to create some more pastel on construction paper art in the future. 


Have you created any fun crafts this week? Did you let your littles use your "grown up" supplies, or did you stick with the kid supplies?