Create stuffed animal art with this easy oil pastel drawing project, full of color, creativity, and cozy inspiration for kids of all ages.
Do your kids have a favorite stuffed animal or stuffy? Our kids have about a dozen each, depending on the day and time! The stuffy piles on their beds are constantly growing until it’s hard to find space for sleeping!
Here’s a fun and easy art activity for your kids and their favorite stuffy. They get to turn their favorite stuffed animal into a bright and beautiful portrait using oil pastels! And if they can’t choose just one, they can make a gallery wall of stuffy portraits!
If your kids would prefer to draw the real thing, check out our post on pet portraits for kids.
Stuffed Animal Art for Kids
MATERIALS
- Your child’s favorite stuffed animal
- Oil pastels
- Heavyweight art paper
- Pencil (for sketching first)
- Black Sharpie (for outlining)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Set up your “model”
Invite your child to place their stuffed animal in a seated or laying pose. Have your child look closely and see what shapes they notice.
Some kids like to sketch their stuffed animal lightly with pencil first, while others may prefer to jump straight in with pastels. Either way works.
- Start with the big shapes
Encourage your child to notice the stuffed animal’s basic shapes—maybe the head is a circle, the ears are ovals, and the body is a soft rectangle. We love the way oil pastels go on smoothly and brightly, making it easy to build up color in layers.
- Add details
Now it’s time to add special features! Maybe the stuffy has stripes or spots, or scales! Let your child look closely and add anything that makes their stuffed animal unique.
If your child would like, they can outline their drawing in black sharpie.
Once your child is finished, they can hang the finished portrait somewhere special or snap a photo of their drawing with the stuffed animal beside it.
This sweet and simple project turns a beloved stuffed animal into a piece of art that your child will be proud of.
More Animal Art for Kids
- How to Make Pet Portraits for Kids
- How to Make Stuffed Paper Fish
- How to Make a Bird Mobile for Kids
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