Dip the stem of feathers into paint and use as a quill. Have students work on penmanship. First have students adjust to the tool by drawing lines and dots on a piece of paper. Then, assign each student to practice writing his name, letters or numbers on the same piece of paper. Last, allows students to create a piece of art on a separate sheet of paper by drawing with the paint. Wait for the paint to draw and display all work on the walls of your classroom.
Teach your preschool students to create artwork by using a feathering technique. Provide each student with multiple feathers and colors of tempera paint, as well as a blank sheet of paper. Show students how to dip the edge of a feather into one paint color and slide the edge of the feather along the piece of paper to create lines. Move the feather up and down slowly on the paper to show how the lines can look like a wave. Let students work with the paint and feathers, reminding all to use a different feather for each color of paint.
Pair a feather painting activity with a reading of an appropriate children's story. Begin your lesson by reading Lois Ehlert's story, "Feather For Lunch." This book describes a cat who runs away from home in hopes of catching a bird to snack on, but in the end gets only feathers for lunch. Following the reading, give each student feathers or feather dusters to mix into paint and draw with onto a piece of paper that has an outline of a bird on it. Encourage students to paint inside the outline of the bird. Once students have finished painting, help students cut out the brightly painted birds.
Discuss with your preschool students the meaning of abstract art. Talk about how you can create your own interpretation of abstract art. Show examples of this type of art and ask students what can be seen in the painting or how it makes him feel. Lay newspapers down on the floor or a table and give each student a white sheet of paper, feathers and a variety of paint colors. Have students get creative by dipping the feathers into the paint and creating abstract art. There is no specific way of painting with this activity. Once a student is done using a certain color of paint, he should leave the feather used with that color on the sheet of paper to dry. The feathers will become a part of the masterpiece.