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Lesson Plan Image

Brilliant Peacock Plumage

Create a colorful handprint of a peacock displaying his magnificent train.

Lesson Plan

Supplies Needed

Gather all the supplies needed to bring your craft ideas to life! From paints and markers to glue and scissors, our crafts section has everything to spark creativity and make every project truly special.

Steps

  • Step 1

    Display images of peacocks with their trains unfurled. Talk about peafowl. Note that the male is a peacock and the female is a peahen. How big can they grow? How much do they typically weigh? Can they fly? What do they eat? Where do they live? Introduce the phrase "proud as a peacock.

  • Step 2

    Have students use fingerpaint to create an image of a peacock's plumage. They can use their fist and dark paint to form the body in the center of the paper. Then use vibrant paint on one finger and press it several times around the page to create an image of the train fully open. Have students wipe or wash their hands as they transition to other colors. Each time they introduce a new color to the plumage they should plan how they want to space it so the train has a variety of disbursed color.

  • Step 3

    They can add finishing touches such as feet, eyes, and a crest using a marker. Ask them to present their art and share a story of a time they felt "proud as a peacock."

Standards

LA: Add drawings or other visual displays to written text to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings.

SCI: Ask questions about the features of phenomena observed and conclusions drawn from investigations or models.

SCI: Design pictorial or graphic representations/models that are useful in communicating ideas.

Adaptations

Read a book such as "Can You Dance Like a Peacock?" by Rekha S. Rajan and Hannah Abbo or "Flora and the Peacocks" by Molly Idle, both of which have a dancing theme, or another book about animal movement. Have students show how they can strut like a peacock or move like another animal of their choice.

The peacock is the national bird of India. Talk about its importance to the country and why this bird was chosen.