Hoo Do You Love?

My daughter loves birds, owls especially. And Valentine’s Day is a time for sharing the love so we were very inspired by these Valentine’s Day Owls from Molly at Mommy Coddle.

Owls are a perfect animal for Valentine’s Day because while most owls have round facial discs, the barn owls (sometimes called “monkey-faced”) have heart-shaped facial discs.

We modified the design two years ago to create this owl, which is mainly my cutting and my then-two-year-old-daughter’s pasting:

We decided to revisit the craft this year now that my daughter is four and can participate more in the design and cutting. She wanted to create an owl entirely out of hearts so we modified the craft further. I think it would be fun to create other animals entirely or mostly out of heart shapes.

Materials:

• construction paper in Valentine’s Day colors (pink, red, white, lavender) – you can also use Valentine’s Day stickers
• scissors
• pencil
• glue

Instructions:

1. Trace a large heart for the body.  Do the same for a smaller heart for the face.  You will also need smaller hearts of various colors for eyes, pupils, wings, feet, and you may use a heart or a triangle for the beak. You could cut the smaller hearts out of paper or use heart-shaped stickers.  (Tip: If you fold the paper in half and trace half the heart, you will have a symmetrical heart.)

2. Cut out the hearts, starting with the body.

3. Arrange the features on the owl to make sure everything is the way you want it.

4. Glue the wings to the back of the owl body.

5. Glue the face to the owl body.

6. Arrange the facial features (eyes, pupils, beak) on the face.

7. Glue the feet to the body.

Valentine’s Day Picture Book

We paired this craft with a sweet story by Felicia Bond, Day It Rained Hearts. A little girl with the whimsical name, Cornelia Augusta, collects hearts that fall from the sky. Creatively, she crafts Valentines that suit each of her friends perfectly. The bunny, for example, receives a heart with a fluffy cotton ball glued to the middle.  My children are absolutely delighted and inspired by Cornelia Augusta’s art projects.

Educational Connections

• Geometry / Art: What other shapes can you find in nature? Try to make another animal out of shapes!
• Mathematics (Advanced): Learn about the shapes that tend to appear in nature and the mathematical rules that govern some of them, such as fractals (rivers, lightening strikes, coastlines, etc.) or Fibonacci sequences (nautilus shells, sunflower seeds, pine cones).
• Ecology: Barn owls have a heart-shaped facial disc.  Why is an owl’s facial disc important?  Find out more about owls and their role in the eco-system and their interactions with humans.

Visit our post about Beaded Heart Ornaments for more cultural and historical educational suggestions for Valentine’s Day.

Shared at: Sunday Science and Sunday Best at No Time for Flashcards and Show and Tell at ABC and 123 and Tot Tuesdays at My Delicious Ambiguity and stART.