Learn About Animal Camouflage with Hidden Animal Art

Gresham and Owen love to learn about animals. They are constantly browsing through books about animals, and they know facts about animals that I didn’t even know existed! Like bearded dragons. That word was not in my vocabulary until recently, but Gresham LOVES them. When I saw this post on Fireflies and Mudpies about camouflage art, I knew that the boys would love it! We did ours a little differently and added animals to the art.

The boys really enjoyed the whole process involved in making this art, and the results were beautiful!

Step 1: Go outside and collect leaves, sticks, and anything else that might be interesting to add to your artwork!

Step 2: Print and color some animals. We did various lizards from google images. I used our copier to make them different sizes. I had to cut them out because they were a little too detailed for the boys.

Step 3: Paint a piece of cereal box cardboard with outdoorsy colors. We did green, light green, brown, and gray. You could also do a desert scene with tans and yellows, and you could even add real sand to the picture!

Step 4: When the paint is dry, glue on your animals, and help them to blend in with their surroundings by gluing on your items from nature.

The boys really enjoyed the gluing and arranging. We used clear Elmer’s glue, but switched to hot glue for the sticks and some of the larger leaves.

Gresham added a feather to his that he found on our walk.

The leaves did dry out and curl after a couple of days, so this is not a “forever” craft. We made it to enjoy the process and to enjoy the art until it’s too crumbly, and then we’ll throw it out!

Check out this animal camouflage game from Kids Activities Blog. This is a great game that really demonstrates how blending in with their environment is helpful to animals!