Colorful Wooden Peg Arctic Animals

Each with their own colorful personalities, these adorable painted wooden peg arctic animals will keep you little ones entertained through the winter!

I’m constantly fighting and competing with my little ones over the devices and screen time. So I was ecstatic when they got lost in play with these colorful little painted peg animals that Sonja made for them.

For a glorious hour their penguin, seal and polar bear were sliding in “the snow” and hiding all around our living room cushions. It was such a pleasure to see.

Next time we’ll make sure to add these sweet painted penguin rocks to the mix! Or maybe they’ll go on an adventure with their woodland animal pals.

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Materials Needed to Make the Wooden Peg Arctic Animals

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• 3 wooden peg people
• Acrylic paint brushes, assorted sizes and tips
• DecoArt Americana Acrylics (Dioxazine Purple, Purple Pizzazz, Ocean Blue, Primary Blue, Carousel Pink, Bright Yellow, Saffron Yellow, Bright Orange, Black Tie)
• Americana Duraclear in Satin
• Paint pen, black
• Painter’s tape (optional)

How to Paint a Penguin Peg Animal

Paint the surface of the peg in Bright Yellow.

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Using a fine tip angled brush, paint the front of the peg in Saffron Yellow to mimic the shape of the penguins face and belly.

Using the back end of a medium sized paintbrush, dab small polka dots all over the penguin body in SaffronYellow.

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Using a fine tip paintbrush, paint a small triangle on the penguin’s face between the eyes in Bright Orange. 

Using the back end of a medium sized paintbrush, bad two larger sized eyes on the penguin’s face in Black Tie. 

Using a medium sized paint brush, coat the entire surface of the painted peg penguin in Duraclear satin.

How to Painted a Seal Wooden Peg Animal

Paint the surface of the peg in Ocean Blue.

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Using a fine tip angled brush, paint the front of the peg in Primary Blue to mimic the shape of the seal’s belly.

Using a fine tip angled brush, paint irregular shaped rounded rectangles on the backside of the peg in Primary Blue.

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Using the back end of a fine tip paintbrush, dab two small sized eyes and nose on the seal’s face in Black Tie. 

Using the back end of a fine tip paintbrush, dab one small sized dot for the seal’s mouth in Carousel Pink.

Using a fine tip paint pen in black, draw a thin curved line on either side of the seal’s nose.

Using a medium sized paint brush, coat the entire surface of the painted peg seal in Duraclear satin.

How to Painted a Peg Polar Bear

Paint the surface of the peg in Purple Pizzazz.

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Using a fine tip angled brush, paint the front of the peg in Dioxazine Purple to mimic the shape of the bear’s belly.

Using narrow strips of painter’s tape create a horizontal stripe pattern around the width of the bear’s body. 

Paint the stripes in Dioxazine Purple.

Remove the painter’s tape and use a fine tip paint brush for any touch ups.

Using the back end of a  medium paintbrush, dab two circles for the ears on the bears face in Dioxazine.

Using the back end of a fine tip paintbrush, dab one small sized dot for the seal’s mouth in Carousel Pink.

Using the back end of a fine tip paintbrush, dab small sized eyes on the bear’s face in Black Tie. 

Using a fine tip paintbrush, paint an upside down triangle shape for the bear’s nose in Black Tie.

Using the back end of a fine tip paintbrush, dab smaller sized circles within the ears using Purple Pizzazz to create a crescent moon shape for the ears.  

Using a fine tip paint pen in black, draw whiskers on either side of the nose.

Using a medium sized paint brush, coat the entire surface of the painted polar bear in Duraclear satin. 

And there you go, an adorable gang on arctic animals! Which one would be your kids’ favorite?

Do you have any other ideas for encouraging the kids to play off of the screens?

This project originally appeared on DecoArt’s project gallery

For more wood crafts check out this wood bead DIY jewelry, these painted wood salad tongs or these monster bookmarks for kids.

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