Heart Panda Bears

I love holidays if you can’t tell!  As of now my entire blog has been devoted to Valentine’s Day and my #DisneySide Party.  This probably won’t change until after February 14th when I start posting some Saint Patrick’s Day projects!   I promise I will start putting up some baking posts soon – I don’t promise they won’t be holiday themed 🙂  One of my friends posted a link on Facebook the other day with heart shaped animals.  I immediately clicked and picked out the panda bears.  The inspiration for this project comes from Crafty Morning.  Last year we made dogs with all hearts and I was excited to have another all heart shaped animal to display for this year.

Materials needed

• Black and White Construction Paper
• Markers
• Glue Sticks
• Googly Eyes
• Scissors

Making the Heart Panda Bear

Right now I have two kids with different skill levels based on their ages.  Boo Boo has started to master scissor work from her time in pre-k while it is still a struggle for Buddy.  Based on the skill level for your kids you may want to have the hearts cut out prior to the start of your project.  This year I traced the lines for both kids and let them try to cut.  Buddy attempted briefly and then asked me to help which was what I expected.  Boo Boo cut all of the hearts out by herself – this was a great opportunity for her to practice her scissoring.

After the cutting was complete we got out the glue sticks.  First put glue on the back of the hearts for the eyes and attach them to the large white heart.  Second put glue on the bottom of the hearts for the ears and attach to the back of the large white heart.  After the ears and eyes are attached glue down the googly eyes on the black eye hearts.  Glue Down the heart for the nose.

Have the kids pick a marker and draw on a smiley face below the nose (if you wanted you could provide just a black marker – I let the kids pick their own color as it allows them to show some creativity).  This is where we were going to stop but Buddy decided his panda needed cheeks and I have to say he is even cuter because of them!  Boo Boo wouldn’t be outdone so had to have cheeks too.

My kids enjoyed this project after we got past the scissor work for Buddy.  As I said you need to determine your child’s skill level with scissors prior to the start to eliminate unnecessary stress on everyone!  This can be a great way to practice scissor skills or just a great use of glue sticks – whatever you think your child is ready for.  Enjoy!