Before presenting this two-in-one art lesson to your students, share some fun facts about the amazing peacock:
1. Peacocks are native to Asia and Africa.
2. The males of the species are called peacocks, the females are peahens, and the babies are peachicks. The name for the group of them is peafowl and a family of peacocks is called a bevy.
3. The peacock’s tail is actually called a train and can grow up to 6 feet long. Only the male has the flashy train, but it doesn’t show up until he’s about three years old.
4. The feathers of a peacock’s train feature “ocellus” or eyespots, that appear to be iridescent when the sunlight hits them. The ocellus are a crucial part of the peacock’s mating ritual, when he fans his feathers to attract a peahen.
5. Peacocks shed their entire train every year, which means collectors can have peacock feathers without having to kill the birds.
6. Peacocks can actually fly—just not very far.
7. Peafowl live to be about 20 years old.
8. In medieval times peacocks were eaten as a delicacy, but they didn’t taste very good.
9. Peafowl will eat just about anything, from plants and flowers to reptiles, amphibians, and small mammals.
10. The ancient Greeks believed peacocks were immortal.
Now that you’ve whet your class’ whistle about peacocks, you’re ready to present this lesson plan, including step-by-step instructions for creating marbled paper. The foam paint bottles are a nifty alternative to working with shaving cream and produce beautifully colored paint foam that is easily manipulated. After the paper is marbled and dried, your students will then cut, fold and attach paper pieces to create a paper peacock. Download the complete lesson plan today and give it a try!
For Grades K-12.
