Gooney Bird

Cluck, cluck, gobble, bobble. Give this goofy bobblehead gooney bird a chance to tickle your funny bone.

What You'll Need:
  • Yellow paper plate, 9 inch
  • Red paper plate, 6 3/4 inch
  • 2 wiggle eyes, 15mm
  • 2-inch orange pom
  • 3 yellow poms, 1/4 inch each
  • Chenille stems: 1 yellow, 2 orange
  • Craft feathers
Tools:
  • Craft glue
  • Scissors
  • Pencil
  • Paper punch

gooney bird
Gooney Bird

Fold the yellow paper plate in half, and run a line of glue along the inside of the fold line. Press the halves together, and set something heavy on top to hold the fold until the glue sets.

Cut the red plate into quarters; discard two pieces. Glue the two remaining pieces to each side of the folded yellow plate as shown.

gooney bird
Glue two quarters of the red plate to the yellow plate.

Glue two wiggle eyes to the orange pom. Glue the three small yellow poms together end to end, and glue this row to the orange pom just below the eyes to form a beak.

To make a springy neck, wind the yellow chenille stem very tightly around a pencil, leaving about two inches straight at the end. Slide the stem off the pencil. Put a dollop of glue on the straight end, and push it into the top of the fold at the front of the plate. Let dry.

Glue the head to the top of the springy chenille stem neck. Let dry.

Punch a hole on each side of the yellow plate along the bottom edge, about an inch in front of the middle.

gooney bird
Punch a hole on each side of the yellow plate.

Insert an orange chenille stem into each hole, and pull it halfway through. Bend each stem at this spot, and twist them to form a spiral. Stop about four inches before you reach the end, and twist and bend the ends to create webbed feet.

gooney bird
Use chenille stems to create the feet.

Insert several large feathers into the fold at the back of the yellow plate; glue in place.

A gooney bird is just one of the silly creatures you can make. Using different-colored plates and decorations, explore the possibilities. How about a hilarious horse whose head bobbles as it trots? Or a hopping, bobbling frog? What else can you dream up?

For more kids' crafts and fun activities, see:

ABOUT THE CRAFT DESIGNERS:

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