Print, Cut and Color a Vintage Rocking Bunny

Directions for Making This Vintage Easter Toy: Paste the cutout on cardboard. When the paste is dry, cut around the outline of the rocking bunny toy. When the toy has been cut out, bend it back along the dotted line in the middle, between the ears. Color the toy. Cut out the flaps and bend these at the lines. Paste the two braces at either end of the rockers between the two bunnies on the inside of the toy. Now you have a fun rocking bunny for your Easter table top!

• Antique bunny postcard, Easter Joys poem and a hidden nest of Mister Bunny or possibly his brother Sunny...
• Sew a vintage stuffed bunny for a grandchild or new baby this Easter!
• Strange Easter Dolls, Enchantimals, once stuffed inside baskets for Easter...

Stencil Easter Rabbits Eating Clover

      The Easter bunny picture above was made by the use of a series of stencils. The rabbits and the dandelions (taraxacum) where drawn by one method and the clover by another. In order to make the soft appearance of the fuzzy animals and the dandelions, I gently rubbed the side of my colors over the top of each stencil. The effect resulted in a feathery appearance. Next, I traced around the clover and colored in the shapes left behind, resulting in harder brighter lines and shapes. 

      Teachers in this lesson may then discuss with young students the differences between design elements that are sometimes difficult to communicate in a drawing only. The rabbits look soft; the clover looks smooth. The fur and seeds look fuzzy, the clover looks bright and so on . . . Tactile ideas are easier to communicate through a fabric assignment but sometimes this is not affordable. Visual textures may be easier to believe when associated with objects that are obviously associated with textures small students enjoy in both their toys and in small animals that they are fond of.

      Teachers will need to make stencils in advance for the assignment. These should look similar to the black silhouettes that I have pictured below.

Easter bunny and rooster cross stitch patterns

Cross Stitch Motif for Towels, Children's Items and Linens etc...

      Birds and rabbits are much used for cross stitch motifs on children's clothing and linens. The work may be done by laying a piece of canvas over the linen and counting the stitches of the design on the squares of canvas, then when the design is filled in with cross stitch, the canvas is pulled out, thread by thread. An easier way is to transfer the pattern to your linen with impression paper. All the stitches which run in one direction should be worked first and then crossed by those which run in the opposite direction. A good cotton to use is the long skein mercerized cotton, which is twisted very tightly.

Draw a Bunny Portrait

      Draw a portrait of a bunny. Here is a step-by-step picture depicting how. I've also included a video of bunnies in cups for those of you who would prefer to work from life.

How to draw a rabbit tutorial.

Positive and Negative Bunnies

      In this project, students will learn the difference between positive and negative space as well as the importance of color contrast or color compliments. The teacher may decide in advance which definitions of color combinations and/or principle of design he would like to emphasize during the course of discussion with his students. In either case, the method for the art assignment is the same. 

      The teacher will need to draw some classic Easter bunny templates to print, cut and duplicate in advance of the project. I often use summer months to cut and store multiple templates for kindergarten through second grade students to use in their art projects. Templates or stencils guide young inexperienced hands and also aid in the overall impression of a completed project. I do not use stencils for the majority of art projects that I teach. However, these do come in handy for this exercise. 

      If you are using this project idea for students in 3rd-5th grade, I strongly recommend that they be required to design, draw, and cut their own stencils. As with most art projects, teachers need to scaffold the method according to the abilities of their pupils. This is something that only the individual teacher may deduce given the environment and progress of students in their classrooms.

Bunny projects like this one could be used to teach concepts in cutting templates,
manipulating stencils or in identifying color theory.

In addition to the ideas listed above, this kind of bunny stencil could be used to teach
additional assignments in understanding symmetry in design.

Binny and Bunny
Binny and Bunny were two little dears
With velvety jackets and stand-up ears;
They went to sleep in the afternoon
And woke to play by the light of the moon.

"Binny," said Bunny, "I hear something pop;
Couch down and keep quiet, perhaps it will stop."
"Oh, yes," said Bunny, "I will, I will;
Perhaps it's a fox coming over the hill."

"Binny," said Bunny, "I'm older than you
And mother has taught me a thing or two.
It's a dangerous animal, worse than a fox,
Who suddenly bangs like a Jack-in-a-box.

"She told me the name of the creature was-Gun.
I hear it again! hurry home! Let us run."
They said as they sat in their hold peeping out:
"There's no place like home when guns are about."

Doodle an Easter bunny or a chick

      Draw a doodle with a thick black marker on your page. Now turn the paper round and inspect the shapes and twists of the lines carefully. How can you turn it into a bunny or chick?
      Add color with markers, crayons or paints to interpret your Easter squiggle into a funny, fuzzy character.

Teacher's Sample.