

The Poem
Little Robin Redbreast sat upon a tree,
Up went Pussy-Cat, and down came he,
Down came Pussy-Cat, away Robin ran;
Say little Robin Redbreast: ‘catch me if you can!’
Little Robin Redbreast jumped upon a spade,
Pussy-cat jumped after him, and then he was afraid.
Little Robin chirped and sang, and what did pussy say?
Pussy-cat said ‘Mew, mew, mew’and Robin ran away.
This rhyme suggests a belief that if you injure or harm a robin bad luck will befall you.
Hurt a robin or a wran
Never prosper boy or man
(Source: BBC)
The Craft
I really want to have a go at the “Four Seasons” with Red Ted – the same (ish) scene once every 3 months. Trees are fabulously representative of the 4 seasons – with its bare branches, buds, leaves and autumn leaves.. so the tree forms be basis of our picture. We then have the robins as explained above (though you usually only find one – I believe they are very territorial), followed by our first proper experience of snow!
Materials: White paper, black/ brown paper for trees (though you can paint one on), paints, bubble wrap for snow, brushes & scissors
1) Paint a background – we chose a blue sky and white snowy ground – surprisingly Red Ted was “ok” about leaving the bottom part white. Often he wants to paint all of it! In this case you could cover it with masking tape.
2) Cut out a tree for the child to stick on – I cut 4 identical trees for our scenes later in the year (yes, that’s how accurate I am being… crazy me). You can of course paint a tree or make a collage tree out small bits of paper. Glue on the tree
3) Make snow: we painted the bubble wrap and pressed it on – Red Ted LOVED this bit
4) Robins: My thumbprint for the base and Red Ted’s for the Red tummy! This time it was a little harder to persuade him NOT to paint everything red. So our robins are joined by one cardinal!
5) When all dried, add a little eye and beak – I did this under Red Ted’s supervision
Lean back and admire! (UPDATE A ย YEAR LATER: here is the full Four Seasons together)
Pip Squeak also got to paint and here is her effort
Lucky for us we were given the Once Upon an App Bird App for review a while back – it actually features a robin and a cardinal, so we had a look at this again too!
fabmums says
That’s beautiful, I like how you used the bubble wrap for the snow and your fingerprints and Red Ted’s combined for the Robins!
Catherine says
What a gorgeous picture. I love the thumbprint robins – great teamwork! We’re big fans of bubble wrap painting in this house too, & of course popping some of the wrap as we go ๐
cathy@nurturestore says
I love the idea of turning a year’s worth of art into a calendar.
Caz says
We did this craft at Christmas, using bubble wrap to make snow. I like the way yours turned out, the robins look great!
Jill says
The winter scene is gorgeous! I love it. I finally linked up one of my fun food fridays just for you. Sorry I didn’t link them up sooner. I thought it had to be something that just kids made. My bad! I’ll happily link them up from now on.
Red Ted Art says
Hi Jill! Fabulous to have you on board! And yes “for Kids” is more than welcome too!! Thank you.
Thanks for the lovely comments everyone – I agree, bubble wrap printing rocks and is a big favourite in our house!!
KateS says
I love this idea of doing a piece of art every month of the year to make a calendar at the end. Planning on doing this with my 13th month old through the year – she’ll need a bit of help over the next couple of months but will then be well on her way to creating her own masterpieces! I love the idea for the robins in this art – it’s something my daughter will be able to do. Thanks for a great idea!
Red Ted Art says
I will be making two calendars – one with Red Ted’s art and one with Pip Squeaks – so don’t worry, even if every month is “just” a colourful page, that will still be a LOVELY keepsake!
Esther says
I love the idea of calendar! May be I can also try that with CJ. The Robin painting rocks. We also did Bubble printing to paint pebbles on sand. Thanks for the poem(new to me)!
Esther says
Sorry Maggy! I tried to link up a different post – gift wrap to rescue and ended up linking the flowery pockets one. Is it possible to delete that link! sorry once again.
Red Ted Art says
Hi Esther – when I go into my Linky Dashboard it doesnโt show up? Very strange!! I am not sure why.. sorry.. ๐
Life in Rehab says
That’s downright frameable!
mermaid says
What a lovely winter picture! Well done you two!
Kerri says
I love how the winter scene turned out! Very creative! Kerri
Jennifer @ Life with the Lebedas says
What a great little artist you have!!
Thanks for linking up to Craftify Thursday! ;D
Have a great day!
Jennifer
Christy says
I love this craft and I really love the idea of making a calendar this way!!!
Janelle says
Your artwork also reminds me of the nursery rhyme:
The north wind doth blow,
And we shall have snow,
And what will poor robin do then,
Poor thing?
He’ll sit in a barn,
And keep himself warm,
And hide his head under his wing,
Poor thing.
The robins in your picture must be very brave to face the cold winter weather!
Isil says
Beautiful pictures..I really like the idea of making a calendar based on pictures.What a lovely idea!
liveotherwise says
Love the idea of revisiting the same scene in each season, need to give that a go.
Red Ted Art says
Aah that is so sweet! Thank you for sharing that cute poem!
In the UK it doesnโt get so cold, so the Robins do ok!!
Deb Chitwood @ Living Montessori Now says
What a wonderful project for the January calendar page! Thanks so much for all the great activities you share! I think your blog is fabulous and gave you an award at http://livingmontessorinow.com/2011/01/27/your-blog-is-fabulous-award-to-happily-pass-on/
Candace @ NaturallyEducational says
Great project! We used bubble wrap on an “S is for Snow” alphabet project.
Natalie says
What a beautiful craft. The bird app got me interested – I want to look for it. Thanks for the review.
Susana says
This is beautiful! You make some of the most wonderful frame worthy projects!
Your calendar idea is a super one!
Chris at Thinly Spread says
I really like the idea of doing the same scene throughout the seasons! thanks for linking to Something for the Weekend!
JDaniel4's Mom says
I love your project. We are ready for spring here. I am watching for robins.
Thank for linking to Read.Explore.Learn. I will Stumbled this post.
Becky says
Love this, and will use it for preschool! Kid art is the best! Thank you for linking up to Beyond The Picket Fence.
Red Ted Art says
Ah lovely to use it at preschool! ๐
jfb57 says
This is a great one Maggy!
Chantal says
Those finger painted birds are adorable!
Michelle@ A Full Cottage says
Hi Jill’
This is my first visit to your site. I love the tutorial what a great idea. I can’t wait to try this with my 4 and 6 year olds. I also really like the poem. We don’t see robins around here until after the snow melts, infact they are our first sign of spring. My kids always like to keep out a watch for them and be the first one to spot one that year.
Thanks so much for sharing.
๐ Michelle
PS: I found you from Happy to Design Sunday Favorites party.
Jennifer says
The calendar is adorable! When I taught preschool we used to make calendars for the parents using the kids fingerprints and hand prints. I don’t know why I haven’t thought to do that with my little guys!
Jen
Scissors & Spatulas
Rebecca Cooper says
this is such a great idea Maggy! ๐ what a great keepsake it will be too!
creativejewishmom/Sara says
love this winter picture and the bubble wrap accents! Thanks so much for sharing on craft schooling Sunday!
Michelle Willow says
Love that snow bubble print and little cardinals are awesome! ๐
Thank you for joining us in High paw Maggy! It’s always a pleasure to see you around! ๐
Bonnie says
What a neat way to recycle bubble wrap!
Beth says
I am bummed I missed this weeks link up. When do you usually post each week?
Thanks!
Red Ted Art says
Wednesdays – ie. Today! And it is open Wednesday – Monday! Do link up more than one post if you have missed the link up in the past! Look forward to seeing you!
(PS it will be in the Headline and then the featured section until the link up closes!)