Dot-Paint a Parrot

What can we use instead of cotton swabs or a paint palette if we don't have them?

If you don't have cotton swabs use the rounded eraser end of a pencil, small pom-poms, or the tip of a blunt paintbrush to press dots, and substitute a disposable paper plate for the palette when you 'Squeeze a small blob of each paint color'.

My dots are smudging or bleeding—how do I fix it?

If dots smudge when you 'Press the swab straight down' blot excess paint on the paper towel, press more lightly, rinse and fully dry the swab before switching colors, and allow the painting to sit flat longer before adding marker details.

How can I adapt the activity for toddlers, preschoolers, and older kids?

For toddlers make a bolder 'simple parrot outline' and use large pom-poms or marker dots, for preschoolers follow the cotton-swab dotting steps with adult supervision, and for older kids encourage careful color mixing from 'Dip a clean swab into a first paint blob' and add finer layered dot patterns.

How can we personalize or extend the project after finishing the dots?

After the paint dries, personalize by gluing a googly eye instead of using the 'black marker to draw the parrot eye', adding real feathers to the tail, framing the artwork, or photographing and sharing your finished creation on DIY.org.