Penguin Lightbulb
Today's
Snack: It's a good idea to avoid chocolate cookies as much as you can at
snacktime, because they'll make you fat and sassy. But when the subject of the
day is penguins, the mind just naturally turns to whatever is black and white,
and naturally, the snack response is . . . OREO cookies! They're black and
white, and everyone loves them. So . . . they're a perfect match for penguin
talk. Go ahead and indulge in some of these much-loved cookies. Just sock down
at least 8 ounces of skim milk to give yourself at least some health benefit.
And don't eat too many Oreos . . . or you may be waddling like a penguin!
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Supplies:
Burned-out lightbulb
Hot-glue gun
Metal jar lid (from canning jar, for example)
Masking tape
Polymer clay or other clay, black, white and orange
Child's glove or sock
Tiny pompoms
Rubbing alcohol
Acrylic paint, white and black
Orange toothpick or orange craft foam
Black cardstock or black craft foam
Clean the bulb with soap and water. Dry thoroughly. Hot-glue the
jar lid to the widest part of the bulb so that it will stand on its own. You
can use a metal juice lid or the plastic ring left over from a tape dispenser
for extra stability.
Using masking tape, cover the ridges of the neck of the bulb.
With the acrylic paint, paint the belly white and the rest of the
bulb black. Study the penguin picture, and make the shapes of your paint
sections conform with a basic white, heart-shaped face for the penguin with a
white, hourglass-shaped front of its "body." You can paint on the facial
features if you don't think you want three-dimensional ones made out of other
materials. Let dry.
With the clay, make feet, beaks, wings, etc. A spray of light
varnish may be applied.
If clay isn't available or if you prefer, young children might
enjoy making beaks out of an orange toothpick, eyes out of pompoms, scarves and
hats out of a child's old glove or sock, and feet out of black cardstock or
craft foam.
A "rookery" is a penguin's rocky habitat. It's fun to use natural
rocks and other materials to form a "rookery" in which to display the bulb
penguin.
