"Scary Mary" Fan Art {handprint chicken}

A and I had so much fun this morning creating this little piece of fan art. To go along with our barnyard theme, we read Scary Mary by Paula Bowles.
Mary is a selfish, cantankerous chicken who frightens away all the other animals on the farm.

When finally left alone she quickly realizes that solitude is lonely, and returns to her friends. This time she's the one asking if she can play.

While I would have appreciated the inclusion of an apology from Mary, it's a nice story for preschoolers about friendship and the importance of kindness. The illustrations are absolutely charming. Scary Mary's comic tantrums and outbursts are portrayed brilliantly, particularly if you've ever been chased by a real-live angry hen!

A liked the page where Mary practices her scary faces, so she practiced a few of her own. :)

To create our fan art we used a variety of techniques. We did a hand print to make Mary's body, and used a round sponge brush with the same paint for the sunflowers. A stippled the seeds on with a black pen, and the grass was painted using a fork. The rest of the details I added with markers.

We even learned how to spell the word "no."



If you want more barnyard ideas, check out this farm unit from Montessori Living Now and this collection of free farm printables from Totally Tots.


Disclaimer: Scary Mary was provided to me courtesy of Tiger Tales Books free of charge in exchange for a review. This does not in any way influence my review.