Instructions for How to Create Animals Using Basic Shaped Paper Punches

Collect the paper punches. Basic shapes include squares, circles, ovals, triangles, rhomboids and stars. You should have at least two sizes of each shape.

Punch out one of each basic shape and size from black construction paper. These are your templates.

Examine a picture of an animal and try to see what basic shapes it contains. Place your black template pieces over the picture and try different combinations to see what works. You don't have to cover the picture completely, just use enough shapes to give the basic idea. Some of the shapes may even overlap. For example, you could use a circle for the body of a bird, a smaller circle for its head, two triangles for the wings and another, smaller, triangle for its beak. Two thin rectangles could form the legs, with smaller rectangles for the feet. Don't worry here about having the right size of shapes; the idea is to identify what shapes are present.

Using the pencil, draw the basic shapes on the picture of the animal. This is your guide to what shapes and colors to punch out of construction paper.

Collect construction paper in the colors you want. You could use colors that are close to the animal's natural color or you could use colors that do not relate to the animal at all.

Use your penciled guide and punch out the shapes you discovered. If you do not have a punch in the right size, use a larger one and then cut down the punched shape to the required size using scissors. Be sure to keep the original shape.

Paint a picture of the animal's natural habitat on a piece of white paper. Glue the shapes you have punched out to this in the form of the animal, overlapping the shapes where necessary.