Get crafty with the DUCK Lab! Each Friday, trained research assistants from the UNCG Psychology Department’s DUCK Lab will guide at-home crafts for children ages 3 to 12. Parents can join too to learn fun facts about crafts that foster age-appropriate skills or learn about the DUCK Lab’s nonprofit child development research projects.
This Friday, the DUCK Lab and the Greensboro Science Center invite all preschool- and elementary-age friends to join Andrea and make a red panda craft! Follow along as Andrea takes you through each step and talks about the importance of protecting red pandas from extinction. Make sure to visit the Greensboro Science center to see some red pandas!
Parents, did you know?
This craft offers an opportunity to chat with children about the importance of conservation. Read on below for more info. about the connection between these types of activities and age-appropriate developmental milestones.
We also invite you to check out our child development research opportunities, which are now modified for the virtual world! Please click here to learn more or sign up to participate with us.
Here’s what you’ll need to get started:
Supplies:
Paper plate
Red, brown, and white/tan construction paper
Markers
Scissors
Googly eyes
Glue (dots, stick, or liquid)
Directions:
Cut the paper plate in half with scissors. Then, glue red or brown construction paper over the paper plate. Tip: trace the shape of the paper plate half on the construction paper first and then cut the shape out with scissors. This will be the red panda’s body.
Next, create the red panda’s face. First, cut out a big circle from the red or brown construction paper for the red panda’s head. Make sure the circle is smaller than the paper plate body from Step 1. Then, cut out some triangles for the red panda’s ears (white, brown, or red construction paper), followed by some crescent shapes to represent the white fur patterns often found on red panda faces. Glue these pieces on the red panda’s head. Optional step: Feel free to cut out some whiskers for the red panda during this step!
Glue two googly eyes on the red panda’s head. Then, use markers to draw a nose, mouth, and some whiskers (if you did not cut them out during Step 2) on the red panda’s face. If desired, feel free to use different decorative materials (pom-poms, stickers, foam shapes) to represent the mouth and nose.
Use the brown or red construction paper to cut out a tail shape. Then, cut out some strips of white construction paper and glue them to the tail to create stripes.
Cut out some legs for the red panda from your red or brown construction paper. Glue the legs to the red panda’s paper plate body.
Glue the tail and face to the red panda’s paper plate body.
The DUCK Lab: Red Panda Craft
Relation to Developmental Science:
Whether seeing a red panda in real life or making a red panda craft, parents can use these opportunities to talk to their children about the importance of protecting red pandas and our planet. Red pandas are currently an endangered species. To explain this to children, parents can talk about how there are not very many red pandas left out in the real world. Parents can also explain how this means that red pandas might soon be gone, like other animals that once roamed the Earth but are no longer with us. Additionally, parents can chat with their children about some of the key reasons that red pandas are endangered: red pandas are at risk for extinction due to deforestation. In kid-friendly terms, this means that people are destroying the forests where red pandas usually live. Forests are not only important to red pandas, but they are also important for protecting our planet in general. In fact, forests help keep our air clean and serve as habitats for many different animals. To learn more about red pandas or the Greensboro Science Center’s conservation efforts, please visit https://www.greensboroscience.org/.
*Great for kids of all ages!
The DUCK Lab is a partner in the nonprofit Child Development Research Center in the Department of Psychology at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. They conduct studies of social and cognitive development with 2- to 12- year-olds. Families who participate in their research studies are volunteers in the Greensboro community who generously offer their time to help support research and training opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students.