How To Make Clay Birds The Easy Way

Birds are believed to have evolved from theropod dinosaurs, a small meat-eating dinosaur.

Wow!

It is amazing to think about how a dinosaur could eventually (over a lot of time) be transformed into the birds we know today.

The birds we see today have a head, feathers, wings, tail, eyes, mouth and beak…very different than the pictures of dinosaurs we see.

clay bird stock bird

Lately, I have been wanting to do more clay projects with my children.

Clay is a wonderful sensory activity. Working with clay helps develop fine motor skills and dexterity.

You may view clay as messy play and it can be…. but the homemade clay we made was simple to make and not very messy.

Don’t let mess or time hold you back from experiencing the sensory touch of working with clay.

I suggest giving your child time to experiment and play with the clay prior to building a bird.

This will give your young child time to touch, feel and smush the clay.

Once your child has had time to play with the clay then try challenging your child to make a bird.

I show you how we did it below but there is more than one way to sculpt a bird.

Encourage your child’s creativity.

Let your child create their own bird…(even if it doesn’t look like a bird).

Read our full tutorial below.

clay bird pin

How to Make a Clay Bird

Materials: Clay, Paint, Glue, Googly Eyes, Feathers

Part 1: Build a bird

Step 1: Roll your clay into a ball.

Step 2: Gently squeeze one end to form the bird’s head.

Step 3: Pinch to form a beak and pinch the back side for tail feathers.

clay bird clay collage

Step 4: Smooth out any cracks and round out the body. Gently tap the bottom of your bird on the table to allow it to sit unassisted.

Step 5: Follow your clay directions for baking or air drying.

Extra Clay Tip: We used our extra clay to make a pinch pot bird’s nest for our bird.

Part 2: Decorate your bird

Step 1: Paint your bird (and your nest if you made one).

clay bird painted

If you are looking for a permanent solution use acrylic paint and seal with mod podge or a sealer. Let the paint dry.

clay bird painted nest

Step 2: Glue your googley eyes and feathers in place.

clay bird final

clay bird in nest

This post is part of our Creative Preschool series. Hop over to our Creative Preschool friends for more bird inspired kid activities.

Duck Finger Puppets | I Heart Crafty Things

Bird Seed Writing Tray | School Time Snippets

Paper Plate Bird Nest Craft | A Little Pinch of Perfect

Egg Carton Owls | Pink Stripey Socks