Penguin Painting for Toddlers

One of my favorite winter art projects is inspired by Penguin and Pinecone by Salina Yoon. It is a simple penguin painting that’s easy enough for toddlers and preschoolers. It’s perfect for working on fine motor skills and pre-writing. Be sure to check out all of the other penguin themed activities at the end of the post. Affiliate links are included in this post.

Penguin and Pinecone by Salina Yoon

Penguin and Pinecone is the first in the series by Salina Yoon. Little Penguin has found a new friend in a little pinecone. Soon Penguin discovers that the snow is no place for a pinecone to grow, so he heads off to the forest far away. This is a sweet story that kids (and parents) will love for the adorable illustrations and lovely message of friendship. If you like Penguin’s first story, you’ll enjoy the rest of the series as well. You can see all of the book’s on Salina Yoon’s author page on Amazon.

 

Penguin Painting for Toddlers

We originally did this activity in 2017 when Lily was almost 3.

We combined a few simple art techniques to create a fun penguin painting. Toddler Lily was today’s artist. She loved using the different brushes to paint. We used watercolor paper, black cardstock, and white printer paper along with blue washable watercolors and white tempera paint. I started by taping off the bottom of the watercolor paper. Then, Lily painted with liquid watercolor. She sprinkled salt on top to absorb some of the paint. This produces a lovely winter feeling scene.

After the liquid watercolor dried, we brushed off the salt and removed the tape. Then, Lily used a brush to pounce white tempera paint on the bottom of the paper. We also sprinkled white glitter on the white paint to make it look like snow.

To create the penguins, we used our fingers to rub a layer of white tempera paint over the black cardstock. We applied the paint and then rubbed it off to make the paper more grey than black. I added tape to the penguin so Lily could pounce paint onto the penguin’s belly. I removed the tape before the paint dried.

While we waited for the paint to dry, I had Lily color the body of a white penguin. I simply glued a white piece of paper down for the belly. I used markers for the eyes and beak.

We glued on eyes to the penguins. I drew their beaks. We used some orange string to make a scarf for one of the penguins.

Lily and I both love how the penguin painting for toddlers turned out. The techniques we used were simple enough for her to do by herself or with help from me. All we need now is a little pinecone for Penguin to find.

You might also want to check out our penguin painted rocks we made. They were inspired by What’s in the Egg, Little Pip? by Karma Wilson. They are wonderful for retelling the story.

More Activities from the Virtual Book Club for Kids

See more penguin themed activities inspired by Penguin and Pinecone:

Penguin Ice Flow Counting Game – Rainy Day Mum
Penguin sensory bin – Mama Smiles
Penguin Sensory Bin – Clare’s Little Tots
Penguin Colors Painting Activity – My Storytime Corner
Penguin Action Song and Gross Motor Activities- JDaniel4’s Mom
Penguin Pinecone Craft for Kids – To be a Kid Again
Sight Word Spin Read and Color Penguin – Sea of Knowledge
Penguin Themed Alphabet Game – The Educators’ Spin On It
Penguin and Polar Bear Headband Craft – Artsy Momma
Penguin Action Rhyme for Kids – Preschool Powol Packets
Penguin Name Matching Game for Preschoolers – Toddler Approved

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This post was originally published on January 23, 2017.