Use our free owl template to make this colorful, sponge-painted owl craft. This art project is perfect for fall and can be done with preschoolers, kindergarteners, and on up!

Follow our Fall Crafts and Learning Pinterest board!

We had so much fun making all these adorable owls for autumn! With just a little, paint, glue, and scissors, you’ll have your home or classroom all decorated for fall!

See it in action here:

Because Theo absolutely LOVES sponge painting, we decided it was the perfect technique to decorate our owls, but you could also color them with crayons or markers. Although if you haven’t tried sponge painting yet, I highly recommend giving it a go. It really is one of our favorite art techniques. We’ve used it to make trains, caterpillars, elephants, and even Christmas trees! You can even used various shaped sponges to make art collages.

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Sponge Painted Owl Craft for Kids

Materials for Owl Craft for Kids

Tempera paint (This is our favorite brand. I love the brilliant colors and especially love how it doesn’t have an odor like some tempera paints do.)
Kitchen sponge
Paper plate
Construction paper in various colors
Art paper or white cardstock (This art paper is very affordable and works with all kinds of paints.)
Scissors
Glue
Free owl template

Directions for Owl Craft for Kids

1. Print out the free owl template. (I cut this art paper into 8.5 x 11 inches using my paper cutter and stuck it in my printer so I could print the owl template right onto the paper.)

2. Select two or three colors of tempera paint to use to decorate your owl. Squeeze a bit of each color onto your paper plate.

3. Cut up a kitchen sponge into squares.

4. Dip one of the sponge squares into the paint and then press it onto the owl body to paint. Do this until your entire owl body is painted, using all the colors you selected.

Some kids will want to make patterns as they stamp their owls. Others will enjoy stamping randomly all over the owl body. (Theo loved how some of the overlapping paint mixed and created new colors.) Set the completed owl body aside to dry.

5. Once your painted owl body is dry, grab your scissors and cut it out.

6. Cut out some wings for your owl. You can color or paint the wings directly on the template or use the template as a tracer to trace wings onto construction paper.

7. Cut out white circles for eyes and an orange beak for your owl.