Yellow-Eyed Penguin

It’s week two of the PreK animal unit and they have moved from North America to the polar animals of the Arctic circle and Antarctica. How do I keep up with ALL the polar animals they talk about? It took me a while to figure out, I can’t! So, I had to pivot. They learn about all sorts of polar penguins BUT there are some that don’t live in polar regions. Of those non-polar penguins I chose the yellow-eyed penguin, an endangered native to the southern coastline of the South Island of New Zealand. Their diet mainly consists of fish but does include arrow squid and jellyfish. Most Antarctic penguin species nest in high density concentrations- meaning lots of nests in one area. Yellow-eyed penguins are different in that they do not nest in sight of each other. Ok, that’s some good background. Let’s get started!

MATERIALS
+ black and white construction paper
+ yellow, pink, and orange scrap paper
+ pencil
+ scissors
+ glue
+ black sharpie

For our first step, we have to create that delightful bean-shaped body of our penguin friend. If you look at it, it’s a bit like a capital B, where the top is really, really small- because it’s going to be the head. Draw and cut out that body. Keep those black scraps, we’ll get back to them in a few minutes.

Next we create the white belly of our penguin. I created a large ellipse (our fancy word for oval). Go larger to start with. I’ve said this before- it’s easy to make something smaller but not easy making something that’s too small bigger. I glued the belly in place even though it was hanging off and slightly too big. Once it was glued I trimmed it up so it actually looked like a belly.

Using those black scraps, I created two wings. One is a little larger than the other, but it works out in the end. I glued the larger one in front and the smaller one behind the body.

Let’s grab those colorful scrappy papers. I created a long orange beak, two pink feet, and the yellow band of the eye. Since we’re looking at our penguin from the side I only needed to create one eye. Notice that it’s rounded where the eye goes and creates a band that goes all the way to the back of the head.

To finish this bad boy I used my black marker to add a few details- where the beak separates, black toes on the feet, little feathery lines, and the eyeball. I think this was a fun penguin to learn about and make. What’s your favorite penguin? Happy making!

*** UPDATE ***
I left off the little yellow feathers that dot the head. Below is my finished, FINISHED yellow-eyed penguin!