Recycled Barnyard Animals

Kids are fascinated with barnyard animals. Now they can make their own set of cute little critters with just a few simple materials.

Approximate Time: 30 Minutes

Supplies:

• 3 empty toilet paper tubes (or paper towel tubes cut in half)
• pink, white, light brown, and dark brown construction paper
• three pairs wiggly eyes
• scrap pieces of pink, white, and black foam
• black and red markers, permanent works best
• glue
• scissors
• hole punch

Instructions:

Toilet Paper Roll Instructions

Cut your white, pink, and light brown pieces of construction paper into a 4-1/2" x 7" piece. Discard the rest of the construction paper. Wrap the pink piece of construction paper around one of the toilet paper rolls. Glue it down at the end seam and let dry. Do the same with the white and light brown pieces of construction paper.

Pig Instructions

Cut two ears for your pig out of pink foam. They should be slightly pointed ears. See the picture for exact details. Glue the ears to the top of one end of the pink paper roll. Let the ears come up off the paper roll just a bit. Let dry. Glue wiggly eyes just below the ears on your pig's face. Cut a snout for your pig out of pink foam. Hole punch two pieces of black foam to be the pig's nostrils.

Glue the nostrils to the snout. Now glue the entire snout onto the paper roll just below the eyes. Again, refer to the picture for exact details. Draw a mouth on your pig using a black marker. Use the template provided to trace a pair of feet for your pig. Use pink foam for the feet. Cut out the feet, and glue the paper roll to the center of the feet. Let dry.

Cow Instructions

Cut two ears for your cow out of white foam. They should be rounded ears. See the picture for exact details. Glue the ears to the top of one end of the white paper roll. Let the ears come up off the paper roll just a bit. Add a tiny pink triangle in the center of each ear cut from pink foam. Let dry. Glue wiggly eyes just below the ears on your cow's face. Cut a snout for your cow out of pink foam. Hole punch two pieces of black foam to be the cow's nostrils. Glue the nostrils to the snout. Now glue the entire snout onto the paper roll just below the eyes.

Again, refer to the picture for exact details. Draw a mouth on your cow using a black marker. Cut out small cloud shaped pieces from black construction paper to be your cow's spots. You will need about six or seven shapes. Glue the shapes to random places on your cow, spreading them out evenly. Refer to the picture for an example. Use the template provided to trace a pair of feet for your cow. Use black foam for the feet. Cut out the feet, and glue the paper roll to the center of the feet. Let dry.

Dog Instructions

Cut two ears for your dog out of dark brown construction paper. They should be 2-1/2" ovals for the ears. Fold one end of each oval so the ears will stick out a bit. See the picture for exact details. Glue the ears to the top of one side of the light brown paper roll. The ears should come right to the top of the paper roll, but not extend beyond that. Let dry. Glue wiggly eyes just below the ears on your dog's face. Add eyebrows with a black marker. Cut out a small nose for your dog out of black foam.

and glue this in place. Now draw your dog's mouth with a black marker, using the picture as your guide. Add tiny dots for whisker markings. Make a panting tongue with red marker. Cut a 1" oval from dark brown construction paper and glue this below the dog's mouth. This is the dog's belly marking. Use the template provided to trace a pair of feet for your dog. Use black foam for the feet. Cut out the feet, and glue the paper roll to the center of the feet. Let dry.

By Denise from Mechanicsville, VA