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Cute Colorful Toilet Paper Roll Rainforest Frogs for a Rainforest Frog Craft

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I have a cute toilet paper roll rainforest frog craft. And I have more ideas on my pages Rain Forest – Amazon, Rain Forest – Animals of the Amazon, and Rainforest Amazon Activities for Kids

If you spend any time studying the Amazon Rainforest one of the first things that pops up is probably the smallest.

The tiny colorful little frogs that make their home in Amazon Rain Forest are beautiful, some poisonous, and some still much a mystery.

Cute Colorful Toilet Paper Roll Rainforest Frogs for a Rainforest Frog Craft

If you are studying the rainforest you will want to camp out and study these fascinating little leapers for a while.

You’ll want to find out about their beautiful color and amazing adaptations, understand which are poisonous, where they fit in the food web, and how they survive the treacherous conditions there.

While you enjoy a study of the Amazon Rainforest, I have a rainforest frog craft for you that can be customized to create colors just as varied and beautiful as you will find in the thick greenery of the Amazon.

If you were trekking through the rain forest some of the frogs you might see are:

  • Red-Eyed Tree Frogs
  • Poison Dart Frogs
  • Emerald Glass Frog
  • Splendid Leaf Frog
  • Smokey Jungle Frog
  • Golden Poison Frog

10 Rainforest Frog Facts

  1. Most poison dart frogs are about the size of a quarter.
  2. One interesting feature of the red-eyed tree frog is that as it is jumping and untucks its brightly colored legs it startles predators, giving it more time to escape.
  3. Poison Dart frogs are immune to their own poison due to special sodium chambers that protect them.
  4. The tiny Golden Poison Frog is likely the most poisonous animal on Earth.
  5. Toxins from poison dart frog skin have been found to have valuable medicinal uses.
  6. There is strong evidence to suggest there is a correlation between the vibrancy of their skin and the amount of alkaloid toxins the frogs have.
  7. Female, red-eyed tree frogs lay their eggs above the water. When the eggs are ready to hatch, the tadpoles inside start moving vigorously, this breaks the egg open, and they fall into the water below.
  8. Rainforest frogs’ lifespan is about 20 to 30 years.
  9. Rainforest frogs prefer crickets, flies, grasshoppers, and moths. But they will even eat smaller frogs.
  10. There have been more than 427 species of frogs found in the Amazon Rainforest.

Also, add some of these books and resources to learn about frogs.

14 Frog Unit Study Resources

Add a book or two or some fun hands-on resources to your unit study.

More Rainforest Frog Crafts

Then, here are some more rainforest frog crafts.

Cute Colorful Toilet Paper Roll Rainforest Frogs for a Rainforest Frog Craft

Then, here are more rainforest activities for kids.

More Rainforest Activities for Kids

Cute Colorful Toilet Paper Roll Rainforest Frogs for a Rainforest Frog Craft

Finally, look how to make these adorable rainforest toilet paper frogs.

Rainforest Frog Craft-Toilet Paper Roll Rainforest Frogs

First, do a little research on the Internet or by looking through books to determine what types of frogs live in the Amazon rainforest.

This will help you choose your paint colors and the patterns on the frogs. For younger children feel free to just let them freely paint with bright colors while you talk about the different rainforest frogs.

You will need:

  • Bright construction paper/cardstock
  • empty toilet paper rolls
  • Bright craft paints
  • Craft or hot glue
  • Buttons
  • Scissors

Cut toilet paper rolls in half.

Cute Colorful Toilet Paper Roll Rainforest Frogs for a Rainforest Frog Craft

On one end of each toilet paper roll press the sides inward slightly and then crease. Flatten this end partly.

Cute Colorful Toilet Paper Roll Rainforest Frogs for a Rainforest Frog Craft

At the opposite end press flat and glue, hold in place until the glue dries, or use clothespins or paper clips to hold it together.

Cute Colorful Toilet Paper Roll Rainforest Frogs for a Rainforest Frog Craft

Once dry paint the entire outer toilet paper roll with whatever base color you like.

Cute Colorful Toilet Paper Roll Rainforest Frogs for a Rainforest Frog Craft

While waiting for the bodies to dry, work on the legs.

Remember the old accordion fans you used to make as a child? You are going to repeat that accordion fold on each of the legs for each frog.

Cut the construction paper into quarter-inch strips and then cut it in half. You want them about 6” long. Crease each fold firmly as you go back and forth to give it a good “spring”.

Cute Colorful Toilet Paper Roll Rainforest Frogs for a Rainforest Frog Craft

Cut out some feet with rounded toes.

Cute Colorful Toilet Paper Roll Rainforest Frogs for a Rainforest Frog Craft

Glue a foot onto the end of each leg.

Now, even if your paint is still a bit wet you can add some detail with more paint like dots and stripes and add some to the legs too.

Cute Colorful Toilet Paper Roll Rainforest Frogs for a Rainforest Frog Craft

Allow everything to dry completely.

Flip your frog over and attach the legs to the underside.

Cute Colorful Toilet Paper Roll Rainforest Frogs for a Rainforest Frog Craft

Flip it back over and fold down ½” to form the mouth.

To finish off your frog, glue the button eyes to the top of the head. You can add slits to the red eyes to really make them look realistic.

Cute Colorful Toilet Paper Roll Rainforest Frogs for a Rainforest Frog Craft

Create a whole colorful army of rainforest frogs to decorate with.

Cute Colorful Toilet Paper Roll Rainforest Frogs for a Rainforest Frog Craft

20 Fun Summer Learning Activities And Make A Rock Sundial

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I have 20 fun summer learning activities and we’re making a rock sundial. And look at 11 Fun Summer Activities for Middle Schoolers for more summer fun.

Are you looking for fun summer learning activities? Whether you teach year-round or take the summer off there is no reason that learning must end.

One of the best things about homeschooling is that learning can be fun and takes place all year long, even in the long hot days of summer.

20 Fun Summer Learning Activities And Make A Rock Sundial

A simple rock sundial is not only a fun and frugal summer activity, but there is much to learn.

Look at what you learn when you make a simple rock sundial.

  1. good way to work on telling time
  2. problem-solving
  3. the history of telling time
  4. learning about the Earth’s rotation
  5. shadows,
  6. and enjoying some fresh air.

You can use this activity for preschool and up, creating more challenging tasks for different ages.

More Summer Learning Activities

Also, look at more summer learning activities below.

20 Fun Summer Learning Activities And Make A Rock Sundial

Then, look at these fun summer learning activities.

20 Summer Learning Activities

I am also giving you a wonderful list of fun summer learning activities to keep them busy all sunny summer long including water play, tasty treats, messy fun, and many more hands-on activities.

Finally, look at how to make the fun rock sundial.

20 Fun Summer Learning Activities And Make A Rock Sundial

How to Make a Rock Sundial

Obviously, this wasn’t a foolproof way to tell time because it didn’t work at night. But it was an early innovative technique that paved the way for later more advanced time telling.

People used sundials to keep track of time by watching where the shadow falls on its surface.

The sun seems to move across the sky during the day due to the earth slowly spinning on its axis. 

The various positions of the sun in the sky during the day causes the shadow to move on the sundial, showing the change of time.

You will notice each day that the shadow falls very close to where it was the day before demonstrating the accuracy of the sundial.

In the morning the shadow continues to get shorter and shorter as noon approaches. 

Then, in the afternoon, the shadow gets longer and longer.

Observe the length of the shadow on the sundial throughout the day.

Is it longer in the morning or late afternoon?

Kids Rock Sundial

You will need:

  • A straight stick
  • 12 flat smooth rocks
  • Sharpie
  • Phone or clock
  • Compass
20 Fun Summer Learning Activities And Make A Rock Sundial

Directions:

First, find an area of your yard that gets full sun all day, you can start any time of day when there is sun but it may take a full 24 hours or more to get all the times set.

Use a Sharpie or paint marker to write 1-12 on each rock.

20 Fun Summer Learning Activities And Make A Rock Sundial

Set a timer on your phone to go off every hour on the hour.

Push a fairly straight sturdy stick into the soil, and tilt it slightly to the north.

You can find this out with a compass or use the compass on your phone.

20 Fun Summer Learning Activities And Make A Rock Sundial

When you are on the hour, go check the direction in which the shadow from the stick is pointing and add your first corresponding numbered stone.

Throughout the day, on each hour add the next numbered rock to the end of the shadow until you have completed your clock.

You can repeat this experiment several times to make sure your numbers are in the correct space. Then try learning time at :30 as well as on the hour.

20 Fun Summer Learning Activities And Make A Rock Sundial

10 Sea Shell Activities for Kids and Make Crystal Sea Shells

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I have 10 sea shell activities today. And your kids will love making these fun crystal sea shells. Grab more ideas on my Seashore Watching Unit Study and Beach Lapbook.

Sea shell activities are a fun way to explore one of your favorite parts of the beach.

If you find yourself with an abundance of sea shells from your beach visits or you just want to have some seashell-themed fun I have a fun learning activity.

 I have dug up 10 great sea shell activities and put together one of my own for you.

10 Sea Shell Activities for Kids and Make Crystal Sea Shells

You can observe and describe seashells, identify them with a favorite guide or reference book or use them for a multitude of crafts and activities.

I am sharing a tutorial today for how to make crystal seashells.

This is an activity that can be educational as well as pretty.

Your child can place these glittery shells alongside the plainer ones on your science shelf to remember the fun they had watching them grow crystals.

Gather up handfuls of your favorite seashells and let’s see what kind of fun and learning we can do with them.

10 Stupendous Sea Shell Facts

First, look at these facts about sea shells.

  1. A sea shell is a hard, protective outer layer usually created by an animal that lives in the sea.
  2. Mollusks can make their shells become different colors by eating a variety of colorful food. Eating red seaweed gives some sea animals a red shell.
  3. There is more to the pattern of the seashell than just being pretty. Scientists believe that mollusks use the patterns and colors as engineering blueprints. The design of the shells helps the animal know where to place their mantle, ensuring they grow its shell in the right spots.
  4. People used to use sea shells as currency, even as far back as Pompei.
  5. 90% of shells are dextral, meaning their shells open to the right.
  6. There are over 100,000 varieties of mollusks including snails, clams, mussels, scallops, oysters, and more.
  7. The official term for someone who collects shells is a “conchologist”.
  8. You can guess the age of shells, a scallop, for example, produces about a ridge per day. 
  9. The largest sea shell is the Australian Trumpet, weighing up to 40 lbs.
  10. Sea shells are an excellent source of calcium carbonate making them a great choice for adding calcium to your garden beds.
10 Sea Shell Activities for Kids and Make Crystal Sea Shells

10 Sea Shell Activities

Get your shell on with these fun and beachy-themed crafts and activities you can do with your sea shells.

  1. Sea Shell Sand Craft
  2. Sea Shell Necklaces
  3. How to Dye Rainbow Seashells
  4. Seashell Science and Math
  5. Storytelling Seashells
  6. Sea Shell Decorations
  7. Sea Shell Craft Project
  8. Ocean-Themed Playdough Invitation
  9. Glittery Seashells
  10. Sand Clay Handprint Keepsake with Seashells
10 Sea Shell Activities for Kids and Make Crystal Sea Shells

More Sea Shell Activities and Beach Resources

Also, look at more summertime and sea shell fun.

In addition, look at these fun books.

4 Seashells Books for Kids

Add one or two of these books or resources to your unit study about sea shells.

Also, look at some of the science before we make this fun sea shell borax crystal.

Crystal Sea shell Science

Before we soak up the next activity let’s look at some of the science behind it.

First, it is important to know that hot water holds more borax crystals than cold or room temp. 

This is because the hot water molecules move far apart and make room for the borax crystals to dissolve.

You can extend this experiment by trying the same measurements of borax and water with different water temperatures.

As the solution cools down the saturated water molecules come back together and force the particles out of the solution.

They will then land on the nearest surface (sea shells) and then they will keep building up to form crystals.

Once dried you will really be able to see the unique crystal shapes, and how they build on different surfaces like the edges, ridges, cavities, etc/

You can purchase sea shells online or even at dollar tree but how much fun is it to use the ones you found on your last beach vacation?

10 Sea Shell Activities for Kids and Make Crystal Sea Shells

Finally, let’s make crystal sea shells.

How to Make Crystal Seashells

You will need:

  • Seashells
  • 4 cups hot water
  • ¼ to ½ cup borax
  • Shallow glass container
10 Sea Shell Activities for Kids and Make Crystal Sea Shells

Directions:

Heat the water in a microwave-safe container.

You can do it in a shallow glass container or a spouted glass measuring cup is perfect for pouring later in the activity.

The water doesn’t have to be boiling but you want it hot, as it is necessary to melt and absorb the borax crystals.

10 Sea Shell Activities for Kids and Make Crystal Sea Shells

Stir in the borax a few tablespoons at a time, adding more and more until it no longer dissolves.

This means the water is fully saturated.

10 Sea Shell Activities for Kids and Make Crystal Sea Shells

Place seashells in the bottom of a shallow glass dish and give a little space between each of them.

Lay them down upside down and right side up to observe what happens with the crystallization.

10 Sea Shell Activities for Kids and Make Crystal Sea Shells

Place the shallow dish in an area where they will not be disturbed.

Wait at least 24 hours before you check them for crystals.

Moving them around and removing them from the water will disturb the crystallization process.

Once they are done lay on a paper towel to dry.

Investigate your shells with a magnifying glass and a favorite resource book.

You can see here that the crystals started filling in the cavity of this conch.

10 Sea Shell Activities for Kids and Make Crystal Sea Shells

10 Edible Beach Crafts For Teens and Make Edible Beach Glass

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

You’ll love these edible beach crafts for teens for fun summer learning. Also, look at my page Seashore Watching Unit Study and Beach Lapbook for more fun beach ideas.

Does your teen love to cook and craft?

If you are looking for a fun summer craft for a teen which is also edible, you’ll love the edible beach glass.

10 Edible Beach Crafts For Teens and Make Edible Beach Glass

This edible beach glass is adorable and delicious. It’s a great way to learn how beach glass is made.

Then there are the life skills cooking teaches, and some science and math worked into the simple recipe as well.

I also think it’s a great art project.

Whether the edible beach crafts are to be used as part of a unit study or for a fun summer-themed snack there are plenty of great ideas here.

So, include these excellent facts about beach glass.

5 Fun Facts About Beach Glass

  1. Beach glass is the debris left behind by broken bottles and jars which have been broken. The pieces are worn smooth, have a frosted appearance from the combination of the waves, and the sand wearing them down.
  2. There is a glass beach in Fort Bragg, California, but they don’t let you take souvenirs home with you.
  3. Beach glass is also known as sea glass, mermaid’s tears, and sea pearls.
  4. Common colors to find are clear, brown, green, and blue. Rarer to find are colors turquoise, yellow, and pink. Occasionally even red.
  5. Sea glass/beach glass can be found in many parts of the world. It is commonly found along the coasts of England and New England, North and South Carolina, Kauai Island in Hawaii, and California. There is also sea glass along the beaches of the Great Lakes, but it does look different than the glass found tossed about in the ocean.

5 MORE Facts about Beach Glass

  1. To age sea glass look at the tint- a light purple shade will be newer as manganese is added to the glass and turns purple with sun exposure, a green shade indicates that the glass is older.
  2. Sea glass is highly collectible and is used in jewelry, glass mosaics, wind chimes, to decorate frames or even just stored in a mason jar.
  3. It is much harder to find beach glass these days. More people are hunting for it on the beaches and many glass items packing items have now been replaced with plastic.  
  4. Due to more storms and the reshaping of the shoreline, the best time to find beach glass is spring.
  5. While often used interchangeably sea glass and beach glass are not the same thing. Sea glass is found on saltwater beaches, and beach glass on freshwater beaches.  The main difference in appearance is that the lakes aren’t as rough so there is not as much tumbling, making it less frosted and might even still have some shine to it.
10 Edible Beach Crafts For Teens and Make Edible Beach Glass

Too, look at these other edible beach crafts for teens.

10 Edible Beach Crafts for Teens

  1. Let them get creative with these Strawberry Sea Creature Snacks and see what they come up with.
  2. Delicious for a hot summer day- Ocean Blue Lemonade Popsicles. I have added these Shark Attack Cheesecakes to my must-make recipe list, don’t they look amazing?
  3. What a great art and cooking project this Edible Sugar Seashells and Sand recipe is.
  4. These sand dollar cookies are just too precious.
  5. Simple but these Beach Pudding Cups are a tasty and cute beach-themed treat.
  6. Pinchable cute Beach Crab Sandwiches look delicious.
  7. Learn how to Make a Sandcastle Cake.
  8. Semi-healthy and a fun theme- Beach Ball Fruit Pizza.
  9. I bet these Butterscotch Crunch Starfish are amazing.
  10. Make a Fun Edible Coral Reef

More Beach Crafts for Teens Activities

Summer Crafts for Kids

Also, add some summer crafts to keep summer fun for teens.

Grab a copy of Ocean Anatomy, not a heavy textbook, but rather a fun and beautifully illustrated flip-through full of great facts about the ocean and all that is in it.

10 Edible Beach Crafts For Teens and Make Edible Beach Glass

Finally, look how to make fun edible beach glass.

Beach Crafts For Teens Make Edible Beach Glass

I highly recommend using flavorings coconut, mango, and banana to add a little something extra to your edible beach glass but it is delicious with just the sugar flavor as well.

You will need:

10 Edible Beach Crafts For Teens and Make Edible Beach Glass

Directions:

Clip your candy thermometer onto the side of a medium-sized pan so that it doesn’t quite touch the bottom.

Combine water, sugar, and corn syrup into the pot and stir together.

10 Edible Beach Crafts For Teens and Make Edible Beach Glass

Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the temperature on the candy thermometer reaches 300 degrees.

10 Edible Beach Crafts For Teens and Make Edible Beach Glass

At this point, you must work very quickly so be sure to have all your add-ins ready to go with the caps removed, heat-safe bowls, silicone mat, food coloring, and flavorings.

Carefully remove from the heat and divide ⅓ of the mixture into 2 heat-safe containers like these Pyrex measuring cups.

Quickly stir a bit of green and blue food coloring as well as a bit of the flavoring oil into two of your containers. Leave the third clear but feel free to add flavor.

10 Edible Beach Crafts For Teens and Make Edible Beach Glass

Pour the mixture from the pan and your containers onto your silicone mat quickly.

Beach Crafts

You don’t need to be neat just make a large blob shape. If it has started to set up, you can place the pan back on the heat for a minute or the glass cups into the microwave for 30 seconds to soften the mixture.

10 Edible Beach Crafts For Teens and Make Edible Beach Glass

Allow it to cool completely until hard, this should only take 10-15 minutes but you can pop it in the fridge to speed up the process a bit.

Transfer the hardened pieces to a zipper bag or cover them with waxed paper and hit them with a little mallet or against the counter to break them up into smaller pieces.

10 Edible Beach Crafts For Teens and Make Edible Beach Glass

Add pieces to a separate ziploc bag and add a few spoons of powdered sugar, shake to coat everything. This keeps them from sticking together and gives your beach glass the dull frosted appearance of real beach glass.

10 Edible Beach Crafts For Teens and Make Edible Beach Glass

Dust off excess powdered sugar.

Check out this side-by-side of real beach glass and edible beach glass, you can hardly tell the difference!

10 Edible Beach Crafts For Teens and Make Edible Beach Glass

How to Make an Easy Bird Craft Fun Paper Plate Peacock

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This easy bird craft paper plate peacock is fun to do to celebrate Bird Day. Also, you’ll love my Free Bird Unit Study.

Peacocks are beautiful and easily identifiable.

They make the perfect model for a fun bird craft to include in your studies or just as a stand-alone activity.

How to Make an Easy Bird Craft Fun Paper Plate Peacock

From their long, beautiful train to their unusual cry peacocks are exotic indeed.

Peacocks are also known as peafowls and peahens. The peafowl is a member of the pheasant family.

Facts About Peacocks

Look at some peacock facts.

  • The beautiful brightly colored birds with elegant tails are all males. Further, females (peahens) are a dull brown color, so they blend in with the nest to protect it.
  • The peahen has a weakness for the magnificent display of the males wide fanned train.
  • Peafowl lives between 10 and 25 years in the wild and up to 50 years in captivity.
  • In 1963 peacocks were declared the national bird of India.
  • Peafowls can fly, even with tails that stretch out to 5’ long, but not very far distances.
  • A group of peafowls is called a harem. A male can have up to 5 hens and father as many as 25 chicks.
  • Peacock feathers have microscopic structures that appear like crystals, this is what gives the bright almost fluorescent colors and shimmer.
  • There are only three species of peafowl: Indian, Green, and Congo.
How to Make an Easy Bird Craft Fun Paper Plate Peacock

Also, look at these resources about peacocks.

Books and Resources to Learn About Peacocks

Add one or two of these resources to your study about peacocks.

Next, look at some facts about peacocks in history.

Peacocks in History

Moreover, the Peacock Throne was a famous jeweled throne that was the seat of the emperors of the Mughal Empire in India.

Too, it was commissioned in the early 17th century by Emperor Shah Jahan and was located in the Diwan-i-Khas (Hall of Private Audiences, or Ministers’ Room) in the Red Fort of Delhi.

It was named after a peacock as two peacocks are shown dancing at its rear.

According to Britannica: “It was ascended by silver steps and stood on golden feet set with jewels, and it was backed by representations of two open peacocks’ tails, gilded, enamelled, and inset with diamonds, rubies, and other stones.”

Additionally, in the gardens of India, Rome, and Ancient Greece live peacocks were kept.

According to the Greek Reporter: “The peacock plays a role in ancient Greek mythology as the symbol of the goddess Hera, the consort of Zeus.“

How to Make an Easy Bird Craft Fun Paper Plate Peacock

Peacocks were featured in the royal courts of India for thousands of years.

Peacock and Bird Craft Ideas

More Easy Bird Craft Ideas and Resources

Also, here are some more fun bird crafts and activities.

How to Make an Easy Bird Craft Fun Paper Plate Peacock

You can make your paper plate peacock bird craft as simple or as elaborate as you like.

Add glitter, vibrant paints, and even sequins to dress up your fancy bird.

How to Make a Toilet Roll and Paper Plate Peacock

You will need:

  • Paper plate
  • Empty toilet paper roll
  • Bright craft paints-teal, purple, blue, yellow/gold
  • Paintbrushes
  • Craft feathers
  • Yellow construction paper
  • Black permanent marker
  • Hot glue gun/glue sticks
  • Glitter or sequins-optional

Directions:

Cut the bottom 1” of your paper plate off straight across.

How to Make an Easy Bird Craft Fun Paper Plate Peacock

Paint the entire plate a vibrant teal and set it aside to dry completely.

How to Make an Easy Bird Craft Fun Paper Plate Peacock

Pinch together one end of an empty toilet paper roll and secure with hot glue, and hold in place until cooled and hardened.

How to Make an Easy Bird Craft Fun Paper Plate Peacock

Paint the entire outside of the toilet paper roll with a deep blue for contrast.

How to Make an Easy Bird Craft Fun Paper Plate Peacock

Cut feet and a beak shape from yellow cardstock or construction paper.

How to Make an Easy Bird Craft Fun Paper Plate Peacock

Once the body is dry, glue the beak and feet in place and draw on little black eyes.

How to Make an Easy Bird Craft Fun Paper Plate Peacock

Add a small piece of feather to the top of the back of the head to give him a little crest.

Draw 6-8 lines from the bottom center of the dry plate up to the top to create the quill of the tail feathers.

How to Make an Easy Bird Craft Fun Paper Plate Peacock

Add small little lines up and down either side to represent the loose barbs.

To create the beautiful little eyes on the feathers, press your finger into a shallow puddle of yellow paint and make fingerprints across the top of the barbs.

Add smaller prints of purple and blue on top to form the eye, you can either do it carefully while it’s wet or allow each color to dry in between.

How to Make an Easy Bird Craft Fun Paper Plate Peacock

If you want to add a little sparkle to your peacock, sprinkle a bit of glitter on the paint while it is still wet.

Let everything dry completely.

Finally, hot glue the body to the tail feathers, lining up the bottom so it sits nicely.

How to Make an Easy Bird Craft Fun Paper Plate Peacock