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Penguin Art: a Listening Comprehension Activity That Will Leave Them Guessing

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Art is one of my favorite subjects to teach to my elementary students, but it can just as easily be one of my least favorite! Coming up with an idea, finding the supplies, making the time to do it…
 
With that being said, I have been sharing different art ideas with you over the past few months, and I want to conclude my art randomness (for now!) by sharing my favorite art project.

Penguin Art

If you’re like me, you’ve noticed that many of our students want to create something identical to the teacher. It’s as if we have trained them that their own ideas aren’t good enough, so they have to copy us. (Have you heard the story of the little boy with the red flower? It makes me so sad each time I read it! When I’ve had the opportunity to teach art in my classroom, my goal has always been to foster my students’ creativity!) 
 
This “copying” drives me a little crazy because no matter how little of an “artist” you are, you CAN be creative! (Heck, any of you who have seen some of the art projects on this blog can attest to my lack of artistic ability!)
 

Anyway, end of rant…

 
For this art project, I do not put up any kind of model or tell students what we will be doing at all. (It’s crazy how some get all excited and others complain. 🙂 And I’ve done this activity with students in grades K-5!)
 
First, I give them all a large piece of black construction paper and tell them to cut out a large oval. (I do this project right along with them, but you certainly wouldn’t need to.)
 
Then we cut out a slightly smaller oval in black.
 
Then we take a large piece of white construction paper and make a large white oval that is just a bit smaller than our biggest black oval.
 
Next we cut out a circle from black.
 
The students are then told to go back to their slightly smaller black oval and cut it in half length-wise.
 
By this point some students realize what they are working on, so I allow them to start arranging their pieces. Others catch on fairly quickly! =) 

Students are then free to use the scrap construction paper box to continue on decorating and finishing their penguin art. We always have some that are at least 18 inches tall, and a few never fail to be under a foot. However, each one is truly unique and I simply adore them all!

Unfortunately in all the years I have done this project, I’ve only gotten one picture of a finished penguin – my own! I think he’s pretty cute, but I can assure you that the ones the students created were WAYYY cuter than mine!

You’re going to love this penguin art project, and I hope you continue it year after year like I have!

If you're looking for a fun way to practice listening comprehension with your elementary students this winter season, look no further! Here you'll find a fun penguin art activity that you can use to help your Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or 5th graders master listening any time during December or January. These little penguins make a fun bulletin board display, or simply use them to make the classroom festive during the wintertime months. Also great for homeschool families!

 
I may have a little bit of a penguin obsession, so you can find more penguin ideas at my penguin Pinterest board here.
 
Want to see all of the penguin resources in my TpT store, check them out here!

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