I haven’t done craft with my kids for few days so I’m just so excited about how it turned out that I simply can’t wait to share it with you so here we go… Here is the completed background before putting the Hippotamus on it.

Supplies:

white, purple and pink cardstock paper purple and green paint markers sequins glue stick blue tissue paper googly eyes scissors

Tutorial:

1. Paint streaks on the paper

I used a thick paint brush with hardly any purple paint on it and made streaks all over the paper reminicent of the artwork.

2. Paint the grass

For the ground I mixed green and yellow and brushed it on. Then while it was still wet I used a fork to make the texture in it.

3. Add sequins & draw the fins

The fish are red sequins with orange markers used for the fin.

4. Make a hippotamus

Here is the completed Hippotamus. I used a purple foam sheet to make the Hippo because it was the only dark purple I had. If I had darker purple card stock paper, I would definitely use that instead. I simple cut out all the Hippo pieces and glued them together. I used a lighter purple for the mouth and eyes, as you can see. There is also some gray on the eyes with a black thin black line, kind of like the artwork. When I do this craft with my kids I will definitely leave out the pink fingernails on the feet and the extra detail in the eyes. Totally not necessary, but I was just trying to get close to the artwork.

5. Glue the hippo to the card

Then simply glue the Hippo on the paper and a sheet of crinkled blue tissue paper on top to act as the water. The artwork shows the Hippo’s mouth submursed, but my tissue paper was too dark for that, so I opted to just have him standing in the water. I’m really pleased with how it turned out and I can’t wait to make it with my kids with some minor changes to the hippo to make it easier for the kids. I will probably have them add some birds in the background too since there is lots of empty space.

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