Make a paper cardinal craft for kids using our free template and some common crafting supplies. Your finished cardinal craft can stand alone and even rock back and forth. It’s also a great way for children to explore balance. Be sure to check out ways to modify and extend this craft at the end of the post.
Children’s Books to Accompany Craft
- Snow Birds by Kirsten Hall
- Red and Lulu by Matt Tavares
- An Anthology of Exquisite Birds by Ben Hoare
Materials for Paper Cardinal Bird Craft
- Red cardstock
- Scissors
- Black marker
- Liquid glue and/or glue dots
- Googly eyes
- Construction paper
- Free Template (below)
Directions for Making Paper Cardinal Bird Craft
- Print out the free template onto red cardstock.
- Cut out the three red circles. Keep the extra scrap paper for later.
- Fold the large circle in half to form the cardinal’s body.
- Glue the two smaller red circles onto the body, lining them up to form the cardinal’s head.
- Use your scrap paper to cut out the crest of the cardinal. We cut out two glue onto each side of the head, but one will work just fine. (It can help to look at photos of a cardinal for children to decide how to draw the shape of the crest.)
6. Use a black marker to draw the black mask of the cardinal.
7. Cut out an orange triagle. Glue it between the two head circles to create the beak.
8. Glue a googly eye to each side of the cardinal.
9. Use your scissors to cut little slits or fringe into the crest of the cardinal to make it look more feather like.
10. Cut out a long rectangle to form the tail. We folded ours in half so we could glue it on top of the folded body.
11. Glue to rectangle onto your bird to create the tail. Cut some slits onto the end of the tail.
12. Cut out two wings from your scrap paper. Glue one to each side of your bird. Cut slits into each wing.
13. Stand your bird up to see if it’s balanced.
14. If your cardinal is balanced, you can leave it as is. If it is leaning forward towards the head side, you can use your scrap paper to cut out more feathers and add them to the back of the bird until it is stable.
Let your cardinal completely dry. You’re finished!
Ways to Extend/Modify the Activity
- Make a flat cardinal that does not stand. Do this by folding the large paper circle in half and cutting it apart. Use just one half for the body. (You could use the second half to create a second bird.)
- Use books and online resources to compare and contrast male and female cardinals.
- Add red feathers to your bird.
- Create a bird feeder like this or this to hang outside.
- Print out our free birdwatching book to record neighborhood birds. You can also have kids create their own bird logs or purchase some online. I’ve listed my favorites here.
