Kid Territory: Crafts: Rock Owl Paperweights

You've heard of the great horned owl, the barn owl, and the snowy owl. Would your room at home make a good habitat for one of them? Probably not! Owls are nocturnal birds of prey that need plenty of space to hunt rodents and other small animals. Hunting at night is something that owls do better than any other bird.

Here are some ideas for making an owl that could live in your room—the rock owl.

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Animal Bytes: Owl
Arts & Crafts: Plant Paint, Oil Slick

You can add as much detail as you want to complete your rock owl.

What you need

• 1 rock, medium to large, washed and dried. (Your owl can stand up if the rock you find has a flat part. Look for a rock that you think will make a good owl shape. We will show you two versions of the rock owl: one that stands up, and one that doesn't.)
• Pencil or fine-ip permanent marker for sketching.
• Newspaper to protect your work surface.
• 4 colors of acrylic paint: white, black, brown, and gold.
• Small paint palette (a paper plate will work).
• Assorted brushes: small round, medium round, and large.
• Container of water for washing your brushes.
• Towels for drying your brushes.

What you do

1. Use the largest brush to paint all of your rock white. Paint one side and let it dry. Paint the other side and let it dry. (Optional: you can tint your white paint light yellow by adding some gold paint.)
2. Use a pencil to draw a head and wings on the front of your owl. Make a face with large, round eyes and a sharp, V-shaped beak. Draw the back of your owl's head and wings. Draw along the sides of the owl to connect the back and front of the head and wings. Don't worry about making your drawing perfect!

3. Use the medium brush to paint the front, back, and sides of your owl: face—white; head—black; chest—brown; wings—gold; back—brown. Wash and dry your brush when you change colors. If necessary, stop and allow part of your owl to dry as you paint all these areas.

4. Use the small round brush and small amount of paint to add details. Paint the eyes gold with black pupils and white accents. Paint the beak black. Add feathery textures with white, black, gold, and brown. Paint the front, sides, back, top, and bottom. Add layers of texture and color until you like the way your owl looks. (You can look at photographs of owls to get ideas. Owls have facial discs with feathers that radiate out from the eyes like the spokes of a wheel. Contour feathers are short; flight feathers are long.)

You've heard of the great horned owl, the barn owl, and the snowy owl. Would your room at home make a good habitat for one of them? Probably not! Owls are nocturnal birds of prey that need plenty of space to hunt rodents and other small animals. Hunting at night is something that owls do better than any other bird. Here are some ideas for making an owl that could live in your room—the rock owl. More Animal Bytes: Owl Arts & Crafts: Plant Paint, Oil Slick	You can add as much detail as you want to complete your rock owl.
What you need
	• 1 rock, medium to large, washed and dried. (Your owl can stand up if the rock you find has a flat part. Look for a rock that you think will make a good owl shape. We will show you two versions of the rock owl: one that stands up, and one that doesn't.) • Pencil or fine-ip permanent marker for sketching. • Newspaper to protect your work surface. • 4 colors of acrylic paint: white, black, brown, and gold. • Small paint palette (a paper plate will work). • Assorted brushes: small round, medium round, and large. • Container of water for washing your brushes. • Towels for drying your brushes.
What you do
1. Use the largest brush to paint all of your rock white. Paint one side and let it dry. Paint the other side and let it dry. (Optional: you can tint your white paint light yellow by adding some gold paint.) 2. Use a pencil to draw a head and wings on the front of your owl. Make a face with large, round eyes and a sharp, V-shaped beak. Draw the back of your owl's head and wings. Draw along the sides of the owl to connect the back and front of the head and wings. Don't worry about making your drawing perfect!
3. Use the medium brush to paint the front, back, and sides of your owl: face—white; head—black; chest—brown; wings—gold; back—brown. Wash and dry your brush when you change colors. If necessary, stop and allow part of your owl to dry as you paint all these areas.	4. Use the small round brush and small amount of paint to add details. Paint the eyes gold with black pupils and white accents. Paint the beak black. Add feathery textures with white, black, gold, and brown. Paint the front, sides, back, top, and bottom. Add layers of texture and color until you like the way your owl looks. (You can look at photographs of owls to get ideas. Owls have facial discs with feathers that radiate out from the eyes like the spokes of a wheel. Contour feathers are short; flight feathers are long.)