Cute Spring Craft: Paper Chicks in Paper Nests

What with the arrival of spring, we’ve been having fun making various bird crafts here in my home daycare.

This past weekend, my son and I crafted these adorable tissue paper chicks in paper bag nests. We plan to give these to the hooligans later this week, along with their Easter treats.

Whether you make these chicks and nests for Easter, or just for spring in general, you’ll love how easy this project is. It’s virtually mess-free, and you’ll be using materials you likely already have around the house. Your kids will love the process because of all the crumpling involved. Crumpling stuff up is fun! It sounds wonderful, feels great and it’s a super way for little ones to strengthen their hand and finger muscles.

Let’s get started!

To make our chicks and their nests, you’ll need:

• tissue paper
• googly eyes
• orange craft foam or card stock (beaks)
• craft feathers
• glue
• paper bags
• paint brush
• brown paint

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How to make a tissue-paper chick:

Depending on the size of chick you want to make, you’ll need either one or two sheets of tissue paper. For our baby chicks, we used one sheet, and for the larger chicks, we layered two together.

Have your kids crush and crumple the tissue paper up into a tight ball. If need be, you can use a little glue to hold any loose ends in place. Squeeze and shape this ball until you’re happy with the shape of your chick’s body. Flatten the bottom a little so the chick won’t roll over when you place it in the nest.

Now your child can glue the eyes, beak and feathers to the little chick. 

Isn’t he simply adorable?

To make your paper bag nests:

We used a medium-sized paper bag to make a big nest for a few chicks to snuggle up in, and we also made several little nests out of smaller bags (lunch bags would work). These smaller nests are perfect for holding the individual chicks.

Start by smoothing out a paper bag. Then, gently roll the top edge of the bag outwards, taking care not to rip the edges. Continue to roll the edge down, crumpling and adjusting as you go, until you get to the bottom of the bag. When you reach the bottom, make a few adjustments so your nest will sit flat.

Now it’s up to you whether to leave your bag in its natural state, or to give it a coat of paint like we did.

If your’re painting your nests, be sure to let them dry completely before popping your chicks into their new homes.

Happy spring, everyone! Tweet, tweet!