How To Draw a Halloween Cat

How to draw a Halloween cat by E. G. Lutz. Printable instruction sheet.

Once you've mastered drawing the simple cat above, why not try drawing a black cat on top of black paper like the one shown in the video below?

Draw Even More Black Cats:

• Draw black cats using vectors
• Time Lapse video of black cat using pastels

Feelings Faces Game for Halloween

      My little Jack-O-Lanterns are full of all kinds of emotions! Teachers will need to print two copies each of every sheet attached to the post below in order to play this Halloween matching game with their class.

      For younger students turn the cards face up on a carpet or table so that all of the emotions can be seen. Now ask each player taking a turn to match up one Jack-O-Lantern with it's twin and then talk about "how" the Jack-O-Lanterns are feeling. Ask the student about the incidents that make him or her feel angry, disappointed, frightened, sad, happy, excited or anxious etc...

      If your students are a bit older, in 1rst or 2nd grade, turn the cards face down during the game so that your students must also identify the matching abstract shapes of the pumpkins. 

      Let your students identify the feelings of the pumpkins on their own. Younger children will give general descriptions of their faces, older students may be more specific about the expressions. What is important about the game is that a students is able to actually match the identical facial features and shapes.

Teach young learners about emotions with these fun little free Jack-O-Lantern faces by Grimm.

Crying Jack-O-Lanterns shown crying. Print out the patterns twice to make this feelings face game by Kathy Grimm.

      Learn more about how to use facial expressions in order to develop social emotional skills watch the video below by Childswork Childsplay. You can purchase their game, "The Understanding Faces Game," here.

The Frost

By Hannah Flagg Gould.

The Frost looked forth, one still clear night,

And he said, "Now I shall be out of sight;

So through the valley and over the height

In silence I'll take my way,

I will not go like that blustering train,

The wind and the snow, the hail and the rain,

Who makes so mush bustle and noise in vain;

But I'll be as busy as they!"

Then he went to the mountain, and powdered its crest,

He climbed up the trees, and their boughs he dressed

With diamonds and pearls, and over the breast

Of the quivering lake he spread

A coat of mail, that it need not fear

The downward point of many a spear

That he hung on its margin, far and near,

Where a rock could rear its head.

He went to the windows of those who slept,

And over each pane like a fairy creaft;

Wherever he breathed, wherever he stepped,

By the light of the moon were seen

Most beautiful things. There were flowers and trees,

There were bevies of birds and swarms of bees, 

There were cities, thrones, temples and towers, and 

these

All pictured in silver sheen!

But he did one thing that was hardly fair--

He peeped in the cupboard, and finding there

That all had forgotten for him to prepare--

"Now just to set them a-thinking,

I'll bite this basket of fruit," said he;

"This costly pitcher I'll burst in three,

And the glass of water they've left for me

Shall "tchick" to tell them I'm drinking."

Tear and Paste Falling Leaves

      Young students will enjoy tearing and pasting fall leaves in order to recreate a lovely Autumn scene. The teacher will need to cut a simple tree trunk to cover the length of a large standard sized piece of grey construction paper. He or she will also need to cut rakes from dark brown construction paper in advance. I have included two patterns for the rakes below.

1. Give each young students brightly colored fall papers to tear for the leafs in this picture. 
2. After pasting their tree trunk onto their grey paper, students will need to paste and arrange brightly colored shredded papers on the tree, falling from the tree and in a large pile at the foot of the tree. This simple art project could take up to twenty five or thirty minutes depending upon the attention span of the participants. 
3. Play a selection of music during the activity to enhance the experience for your young students. 
4. After they have built up enough leaves under their fall tree, glue the ladder over them and leaning up against the tree. 
5. Don't forget to pinch the ends of the rake to form an angle. 
6. After the glue has dried, give the students a dark brown marker and encourage them to draw grooves into their tree trunk for added effect.

The young students at the early learning center are shredding fall colored papers for their simple rake pictures.
 I have included the simpler rake pattern below for those of you who would prefer to make a simpler version of
 the art lesson.

Look for more Autumn related art projects on our Early Learning Center's pinboard!

Create Fall Leaf Patterns

      This design project is best suited to students in fourth, fifth and sixth grades.

Materials:

• Black permanent markers, a variety of tip sizes
• 81/2'' x 11" white drawing paper
• extra scratch papers for cutting out stencils
• pencil and eraser
• a collection of fall leaves
• a variety of colored felt tip pens
• scissors

Step-by-Step Directions:

1. Students will first need to collect a minimum of seven leaves and trace around them to create their own stencils. 
2. After cutting out the patterns, students should then move them around an 81/2 inch x 11inch sheet of white drawing paper. 
3. The leaves should be large enough so that they will overlap a bit when traced onto the white drawing paper.       
4. Next the spaces which overlap should be filled in with solid black ink. 
5. Now challenge the students to draw a different patterned design in every remaining positive and negative space, neatly using black ink only.
6. Students should ink in select parts of the designs only.
7. After completing this part of the design project they may color in their fall leaf patterns with an assortment of colors representing an Autumn color palette.

More Black and White Design Inspiration:

• Scarecrow art lesson emphasizing line and patterns
• Line Drawing Art Lessons: Owls and Cats
• Aztec and Navajo Triangles
• Zentangle inchies with hearts example
• Line art city and clouds example
• Positive and Negative hands example
• Black and White House Sculpture examples
• 6th grade Geometric Composition Project

Above, the hand colored finished fall leaf, art assignment.

A Fall Collage Featuring An Owl

       Collage (From the French: coller, to glue) is a technique of an art production, primarily used in the visual arts, where the artwork is made from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole. Above you can see that I began this collage using a template of an owl that I cut from heavy construction paper.

      A collage may sometimes include newspaper clippings, ribbons, bits of colored or handmade papers, portions of other artwork or texts, photographs and other found objects, glued to a piece of paper or canvas. The origins of collage can be traced back hundreds of years, but this technique made a dramatic reappearance in the early 20th century as an art form of novelty.
      For this fall collage I used wood chips, pom-poms, acorn caps, painted and stamped papers and magazine clippings along with a few markers: brown, white, black and yellow. I will give my younger students templates to trace around. The older students will be required to draw their own owl designs.

      The term collage derives from the French "coller" meaning "glue". This term was coined by both Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso in the beginning of the 20th century when collage became a distinctive part of modern art. Owls were popular subjects for both cubists to include in their still life art works as well!

      I pasted some real feathers into my collage to finish off my teacher sample.

See More Owl Collage Lessons and Ideas:

• Owl collages and matting
• Owl collage from Roadsworth
• Marbled Paper Owl Collages
• Recycled owl collage
• Magazine Collage Owls

The Elf and The Dormouse

By Oliver Herford

Under a toadstool crept a wee Elf,

Out of the rain, to shelter himself.

Under the toadstool sound asleep,

Sat a big Dormouse all in a heap.

Trembled the wee Elf, frightened, and yet

Fearing to fly away lest he get wet.

To the next shelter-maybe a mile!

Sudden the wee Elf smiled a wee smile.

Tugged till the toadstool toppled in two.

Holding it over him, gayly he flew.

Soon he was safe home, dry as could be.

Soon woke the Dormouse-"Good gracious me!"

"Where is my toadstool?" loud he lamented,

And that's how umbrellas first were invented.

Widdy-Widdy-Wurky

This little song from 1911 (French?) is perfect for an early learning center's student performance at a Thanksgiving Play or festival. It is simple enough for little ones to memorize and silly enough for them to enjoy doing it! Don't forget to dress your performers up in costume.

This is sung by the children in a semicircle. They come in a single file. Each child takes the name of an animal, and as each name is mentioned, the child whose name it is must clap hand in time. All clap hands together. At the end all march out, the leaders first, each child falling into place as his or her name is mentioned. Go round in single file once and then out.

Widdly-widdy-wurkey I call my fat turkey, 

Sit-a-gain is my hen,

Feather-er-loose, is my goose,

Widdly-widdy-wurkey I call my fat turkey.

Widdly-widdy-wurkey I call my fat turkey,

Quacky-wuck is my duck,

Velet-mat is my cat,

Widdly-widdy-wurkey I call my fat turkey,

Widdly-widdy-wurkey I call my fat turkey,

Shiny-coat is my goat,

Tub-of-wine is my swine,

Widdly-widdy-wurkey I call my fat turkey,

Widdly-widdy-wurkey I call my fat turkey,

Run-a-course is my horse,

Milkey-ow is my cow,

Widdly-widdy-wurkey I call my fat turkey,

Widdly-widdy-wurkey I call my fat turkey,

What's-o'clock is my cock,

Run-around is my hound,

Widdly-widdy-wurkey I call my fat turkey,

Widdly-widdy-wurkey I call my fat turkey,

Nice-look-out is my house,

Dart-about is my mouse,

Widdly-widdy-wurkey I call my fat turkey,

Widdly-widdy-wurkey I call my fat turkey,

Yes-I-can is my man,

Whirley-wind is my child,

Widdly-widdy-wurkey I call my fat turkey!

The Circus Day Parade

Oh the circus-day parade! How the bugles played and played!

And how the glossy horses tossed their flossy manes and neighed,

As the rattle and the rhyme of the tenor-drummer's time

Filled the hungry hearts of all of us with melody sublime!

How the grand band-wagon shone with a splendor all its own,

And glittered with a glory that our dreams had never known!

And how the boys behind, high and low of every kind,

Marched in unconscious capture, with a rapture undefined!

How the horesmen, two and two, with their plumes of white and blue,

And of crimson, gold and purple, nodding by at me and you,

Waved the banners that they bore, as the knights in days of yore,

Till our glad eyes gleamed and glistened like the spangles that they wore!

The Snowman Song

Original Poem By W. W. Ellsworth (verses of song)

Chorus lines by Kathy Grimm

One day we built a snowman.

We made him out of snow;

You'd ought to see how fine he was--

All white from top to toe!

we built a little snowman, as soon as it grew cold!

we built a little snowman, he'll melt as he grows old!

We poured some water on him,

And froze him, legs and ears;

And when we went indoors to bed

I said he'd last two years.

we built a little snowman, as soon as it grew cold!

we built a little snowman, he'll melt as he grows old!

But in the night a warmer kind

Of wind began to blow,

And winter cried and ran away,

And with it ran the snow.

we built a little snowman, as soon as it grew cold!

we built a little snowman, he'll melt as he grows old!

And in the morning when we went

to bid our friend good day,

There was n't any snowman there--

Everything had runned away!

we built a little snowman, as soon as it grew cold!

we built a little snowman, he'll melt as he grows old!

Students can sing this poem to the "The Dreidel Song." Read more about dreidels here. Listen to the original tune below and learn about the little Hannukah game.

More Little Snowman Songs on Video:

• I'm a Little Snowman Song for Children
• "Frosty The Snowman"
• The Snowman Song by Phil Keaggy
• The Mitten Song
• Snowflakes: Winter Action Song for Kids
• Little Snowman - Nursery Rhymes by Little Fox
• Snowman Songs for Children

How to Draw: A Cow

Step-by-Step way to both fold paper to draw a cow's head and also how to draw
details of the cow's features.

Directions for Drawing A Cow: Fold a square sheet of paper from corner to corner in every direction before drafting the proportions of this cow's head. This simple exercise teaches young students to use basic geometry to draw a cow.

The Cow

by Robert Louis Stevenson

The friendly cow, all red and white,

I love with all my heart;

She gives me cream with all her might,

To eat with apple tart.

She wanders lowing here and there,

And yet she cannot stray,

All in the pleasant open air,

The pleasant light of day.

And blown by all the winds that pass

And wet with all the showers,

She walks among the meadow grass

And eats the meadow flowers.

How to Draw: Old-Fashioned Airplanes

Would you like to learn how to draw old-fashioned airplanes?
Above are three classic examples that teachers and parents
may print out for their young plane enthusiasts to copy step-by-step.

How to Draw: The Head of A Horse

Many young students love to practice drawing animals even though it is near to impossible to give them opportunities to do so from real life in a classroom environment. Above is a simple step-by-step, how to exercise in drawing a horse up close that educators may either print out or project on to a white board. This exercise uses triangle shapes to determine proportions of the horses head.

A Simple Farm Maze for Little Folks

Help the farmer's cow find her way back from the pasture to the barn.

Pumpkin and Jack-O-Lantern Number Books

Crafting and gifting little number books for Fall related themes is not all that uncommon in day care programs or
early learning centers. So, I have decided to submit here a few simple ideas of my own. You can use the
same patterns for either version of this craft. One version is a spooky Jack-O-Lantern and the other is a decorative
 pumpkin. Both crafts include pumpkin seeds as the elements that young students are to count on each
 individual page.

As you can see, students may count the seeds and also associate the written number with the quantity of those
seeds on every page. Don't forget to include zero at the very beginning. Each of my number books
includes 11 pages. Above, you can see the decorative pumpkin cover using painted papers.

Here is my Jack-O-Lantern version of the same project. I have also included a little "illuminated candle on
every page as well!

Above is my page of patterns for both versions of this little Fall number book.
Below is an additional page of burning candles that I have drawn for those of
you who would prefer to turn your fall number book into a Jack-O-Lantern.

Craft a Paper Scarecrow Jumping-Jack

      For this little craft, you will need Autumn colored papers in a check, a plaid and four solid colored papers. You will also need 12 brass brads, one set of googly eyes, two buttons, a paint stick, scissors, white glue and one black felt tip marker. 

      Download and print the stencil pattern that I have drawn for the scarecrow Jumping-Jack. Trace and cut the pattern pieces, use a hole punch to clip through the papers at the x markings. Assemble the scarecrow according to the sample shown above. Mount him onto a paint stick or a wooden dowel. I did not string this particular Jumping Jack but you can string him.

•  Here is a web page that describes to visitors how to string Jumping Jacks.

A free Jumping Jack pattern by Kathy Grimm.

More Paper Jumping-Jack Crafts:

• DIY Hilarious Jumping Jack Bugs
• Halloween Jumping Jacks
• Craft a Pirate Jumping Jack
• Antique, French Jumping-Jacks 

Trace, Cut and Paste Developmental Learning Activities

A sampling of trace, cut and paste developmental learning activities coming soon to this blog.

       Trace, cut and paste, developmental learning activities are very popular lessons taught inside preschools, kindergartens and early learning centers. In the early learning center where I teach, students complete at least two of these kinds of exercises per week. The reason for this is obvious to those people who have ever observed the fundamental learning that takes place during any primary school’s curriculum. All young students experience some difficulty in developing the levels of obedience, observation and productivity that are required of them in order to be successful in academic environments. These qualities can be developed over a few short years by a loving, patient, and creative team of teachers (or parents) in order for children to be properly prepared for school.

      I have listed below, the preliminary objectives that educators assign to this type of activity. Very young students take at least an entire year or longer to accomplish these agenda. Ordinarily, art teachers would be expected by the State to qualify activities such as these by presuming that goals/objectives would be attainable within one lesson. This expectation is highly unrealistic for three, four and even five year old students. Most young students will not be able to fulfill all of the objectives concurrently until they have practiced them over and over for many months. The ultimate goal of the exercise is: to teach students to perform perfectly together all of the objectives within the context of the assignment, by the end of their kindergarten year, not by the end of the exercise.  

      Below are the objectives for trace, cut and paste assignments that eventually must be performed concurrently:

• Students will learn to listen and follow directions in the order in which they are given.
• Students will learn to recognize shapes and use their correct names.
• Students will learn to recognize colors and to use their correct names.
• Students will learn about spatial relationships and differences between basic shapes.
• Students will learn how to paste elements in an organized fashion in order to create an image.
• Students will learn how to cut simple geometric shapes accurately with scissors.
• Students will learn how to trace around a simple geometric shape while maintaining that shape’s original proportions.
• Students will learn to recognize and act out basic instructional vocabulary.

More Related Content:

• Ages & Stages: Learning to Follow Directions
• Why Colors and Shapes Matter
• Color and Your Daycare Center
• Preschool Key Developmental Indicators (KDIs)
• Shape and Space in Geometry
• The Geometric World of Young Children
• Creating Better Writers with Preschool Tracing Activities
• Effective Vocabulary Instruction by Joan Sedita (PDF)
  

"In October" Poem

By Mrs L. C. Whiton.

There are lingering south-winds softly blowing

That to billowy waving the ripe grain bear;

There are dark-winged butterflies languidly going

Floating through golden air;

There are mists like vapor of incense burning,

That are rolling away under skies that are fair;

There are brown-faced sun-flowers dreamily turning,

Shaking their yellow hair.

There are noisy bees that are tired of winging

That are holding a court in some wild rose's heart;

There are sudden thrills of the late sweet singing

Of birds that are loth to depart;

There are sunsets watching their own hot blushes

On the breast of the ocean burning away;

There are wind-swept pines in the infinite hushes

Whispering as they sway.

There are changing ferns in the shadows lying,

Where the undried dews in the noontides stay;

There are gorgeous-hued leaves where, rustling and sighing,

Quivering sunbeams play;

There are tangled vines in the hollows trailing;

There are short sweet days that will not delay;

There are nights that come with a moonlight veiling

And Autumn going away.

"The Cornstalk's Lesson" Poem

This poem may be downloaded and printed
freely by teachers everywhere.

By Mrs Christine Chaplin Brush.

One single grain of corn took root

Beside the garden walk;

"Oh, let it stay," said little May,

"I want it for my stalk."

And there is grew, until the leaves 

Waved in the summer light;

All day it rocked the baby ear,

And wrapped it warm at night.

And then the yellow corn-like silk came--

A skein of silken thread:

It was as pretty as the hair

Upon the baby's head.

Alas! one time, in idle mood,

May pulled the silk away,

And then forgot her treasured stalk

For many a summer day.

At last she said, "I'm sure my corn

Is ripe enough to eat;

In even rows the kernels lie,

All white, and juicy sweet."

Ah me! they all were black and dry,

Were withered long ago;

"What was the naughty corn about,"

She said, "to cheat me so!"

She did not guess the silken threads

Were slender pipes to lead

the food the tasselled blossom shook

To each small kernel's need.

The work her foolish finger wrought

Was shorter than a breath;

Yet every milky kernel then

Began to starve to death!

So, list my little children all,

This simple lesson heed:

That many a grief and sin has come

From one small thoughtless deed.

"Roasting Corn" Poem

By Mrs. Clara Doty Bates.

A faint blue cloud of smoke

Creeps up the golden air:

It must be the wandering gypsy folk

Have lighted a fire there.

No doubt they have covered vans,

And ponies shaggy and lean,

Which they will tether with dusky hands

Along the wayside green.

And the bells on their bridles hung

Will tinkle idly sweet,

With the chatter of children, rude of tongue

And bare of feet --

While, with grimy tents spread out,

Their elders lazily

Wait for the steam of the kettle-spout

To burn the time for tea.

Though surely I can get

But whiffs of the camp-fire smoke,

And though I know they are vagrants, yet

I will visit these gypsy folk.

Well, now! and is this Jack?

This Gold-locks? and this Ted?

With clothes and fingers a smutty black

And cheeks a burning red--

So hungry and forlorn,

In grandpa's ample house,

That you must pilfer an ear of corn

And nibble it like a mouse?

Will I have some? The smell

Is of itself a treat.

I'll trust the boys and girls to tell

When things are good to eat!

(All poetry on this blog is in the public domain folks.)

Paint Fall Foliage With Hugs and Kisses

This picture of Fall foliage was created
entirely with dots.

      This picture was painted with Dot paint markers. Dot paints are frequently purchased for early learning center art activities. These paint bottles have foam tips and are just the right size for little hands to squeeze and paint with. The round shapes of my tree's foliage are actually painted coffee filters that are pasted onto a large piece of blue construction paper after drying. I cut a simple tree trunk from brown construction paper to paste on top of the blue background as well. The blank circular shape is for each child to "carve" their names inside after they have completed the assignment. 

      Because dot painting is so easy to do, it is important for teachers to give young students enough of a challenge when filling in space with their paints. A picture like this will take a preschool student at least forty minutes or more to finish. Teachers may have students complete the foliage on one day and then assemble the picture with additions to the trunk, sky and ground on a second day. In any case, one large dot picture should take a week for three to five year old children to complete nicely.

      Encourage students to fill in all of the spaces. Then give them markers of similar color and demonstrate how to add Capital Xs to every circular shape. This may appear on the surface to be busy work but it serves the purpose of training small motor skills in very young students by virtue of a pleasant activity. Here are a few goals associated with the activity that teachers may wish to include within a weekly lesson plan:

• Color matching
• Writing the Capital letter "X"
• Learning about color families or cool vs. warm colors
• Defining space
• Defining boundaries in space
• Manipulating objects by squeezing and placement
• Recognizing and reproducing geometric shapes
• Teaching science concepts to children: this one would be photosynthesis.
• Learning about additional symbolism given to letters, i.e. hugs and kisses are x's and o's

Paint, Cut and Paste a Leafy River Scene

      This fall leaf art lesson was inspired by a very popular children's book, "Leaf Man" by Lois Ehlert. View and hear the book below.
      The project may be completed over several consecutive days in an early learning center environment:

• First day: Collect and share fall leaves from your center's playground and/or surrounding neighborhood.
• Second day: Draw and cut many stencil patterns from the leaves that students have collected from the previous day. Let students play with the stencils, discovering how these can be layered or moved about in order to mimic the creatures depicted in the Leaf Man book.
• Third day: Draw plastic combs through acrylic and glitter paints on construction paper to recreate the Autumn colors found in the student's leaf collection.
• Fourth day: Trace the leaf stencils onto the decorated papers and cut them out. Now let each student paste together his or her own river scene depicting fish and turtles similar to those illustrated in the Leaf Man book.
• Fifth day: Let the students help you display their dry art works in the hallway or classroom of their school. Serve up some warm cider or chocolate and talk about all the things they have accomplished while enjoying the fall leaves!

      Harcourt Trade Publishers also includes a fun teacher's guide for an alternative art project. Below I have linked to additional fall leaf lessons that young students may enjoy.

• Fall Line Leaves from The Art of Education
• Fall Leaves Lesson from Deep Space Sparkle
• Why do Autumn Leaves Change Color?
• Art School: Fall of the leaf
• Explore fall themes to develop early learning centers
• Preschool themes and lessons about fall

Students paint, cut and paste leafy fish and turtles to swim in their colorful blue river.

A detail of the paper turtle cut from papers combed with glitter paints.

Young students can achieve very professional looking results when they work
 from stencils. Collecting, tracing and cutting leaf stencils is a very complex
exercise for little students but it teaches them confidence, patience and a
set of tasks that will generate excellent results. Chunk down lofty goals into
 to smaller tasks that may be performed successfully and your little artists
will achieve great things!

This popular children's book is read by Jonah.

Craft a Paper War Bonnet

To craft a war bonnets, you will need a tape measure to determine the
circumference of each student's head. Cut strips of construction paper
approximately one additional inch longer than the measurement of
each child's head. Staple the two ends together so that these overlap by the
additional inch after the paper band has been decorated with markers
depicting native motifs. Cut and paste on to the backside of the
headband, feathers made from colorful construction paper. You may
also fringe the edges of the papers by slashing these with
scissors if you'd like.

      Feathered war bonnets (also called warbonnets or headdresses) are worn by honored Plains Indian men. In the past they were sometimes worn into battle, but most often worn for ceremonial occasions as is the case today. They are seen as items of great spiritual and magical importance. The eagle is considered by Plains tribes as the greatest and most powerful of all birds, and thus the finest bonnets are made out of its feathers.

      Its beauty was considered of secondary importance; the bonnet's real value was in its supposed power to protect the wearer. The bonnet is still only to be worn on special occasions and is highly symbolic.

      The bonnet had to be earned through brave deeds in battle because the feathers signified the deeds themselves. Some warriors might have obtained only two or three honor feathers in their whole lifetime, so difficult were they to earn. The bonnet was also a mark of highest respect because it could never be worn without the consent of the leaders of the tribe. A high honor, for example, was received by the warrior who was the first to touch an enemy fallen in battle, for this meant the warrior was at the very front of fighting. Feathers were notched and decorated to designate an event and told individual stories such as killing, capturing an enemy's weapon and shield, and whether the deed had been done on horseback or foot.

      After about ten honors had been won, the warrior went out to secure the eagle feathers with which to make his bonnet. In some tribes these had to be purchased from an individual given special permission to hunt the bird; a tail of twelve perfect feathers could bring the seller as much as a good horse. Some tribes permitted a warrior to hunt his own eagles. This was a dangerous and time-consuming mission and meant that he had to leave the tribe and travel to the high country where the bird could be found. When the destination had been reached, ceremonies were conducted to appeal to the spirits of the birds to be killed.

       A chief's war bonnet is made of feathers received for good deeds to his community and is worn in high honor. Each feather would represent a good deed. A warrior's war bonnet, such as the famous war bonnet of Roman Nose, the Cheyenne warrior, was said to protect him during battle. In several instances, Roman Nose, wearing his war bonnet, rode back and forth before soldiers of the United States Army during battles of the Indian Wars and, despite being fired upon by many soldiers, was unscathed.

• Read More About Native American Headdresses

Draw a Design from A Spider's Web

Start your web design by randomly selecting a point, 
on a sheet of black construction paper, somewhere in 
the center of your paper.  Then draw, with the help of
 a ruler, lines from that central point out to the edges
 of the paper. Your design should look something like 
a giant sliced pie.

Then take either a bottle of white school glue or black puff 
paint bottle, and squeeze out a thin line of liquid tracing the 
drawing thus far. Then, very carefully, squeeze out the 
intersecting spiral lines of the spider's web pattern leaving 
large spaces approximately 1/2 inch to 1 or 2 inches apart.

Next, you will need to fill in these spaces of your web design 
with chalk pastels. After completing the design, Teachers may 
spray fix the pastels with either a special fixative purchased 
for the preservation of chalk pastel drawings or with 
a inexpensive hair spray.

A close up view of my spider's web design. This art project 
is an exercise in calculation, glue application, and a 
introduction to chalk pastels. I recommend it for 2nd 
through 4th grade students.

Craft a Ruote Pasta Web

      These little Ruote, more commonly known as wagon wheel pasta in America, make interesting design elements in a spider web craft for early learners.

      First, teachers will need to dye these Ruote pasta black:

• Add the dryed Route pasta to a large zip-lock plastic bag. (1lb. per large freezer bag at a time)
• Include a few teaspoons of rubbing alcohol and a few drops of black food coloring inside the bag with the dryed pasta.
• Close the bag tight and shake. 
• Pour this pasta out onto a napkin or paper towel to let it dry either in the sunshine or overnight in a warm place. 

 Left, a view of the Ruote pasta spider web from the side.  Right, a view of the pasta spider web from above.

      Once you have prepared the dried pasta for your young students, you will need to gather the following supplies:

• black construction paper
• white school glue
• dyed black Ruote pasta
• white tempera or acrylic paint
• newsprint to cover the table with
• Q-tips and cast off plastic lids for the gluing process

Step-by-step Instructions:

1. First, have the young students play at arranging the pasta on the table top before actually gluing it down to the paper. Talk to them about the shape, texture and color of the pasta while they experiment with arranging it.
2. Give each student a handful of pasta, a black piece of construction paper, a plastic lid full of liquid white school glue and a Q-tip for dipping into the glue.
3. Demonstrate to them, at their table, how to dip the Q-tip into the glue and then glop it onto the construction paper. This process of applying glue to the paper will help little people add enough glue for the pasta to stick to the paper but not so much glue that they cannot control it's application all together.
4. Now the pasta may be layered on top of the glue and arranged in a web like pattern. 
5. These 'spider webs' will need to dry overnight in the classroom.
6. On the following day students should each be given another plastic lid filled with non-toxic white paint. 
7. Show your early learners how to dip their fingers into the white paint and dab it lightly onto the very tops of the Ruote in order to highlight the pasta's design. 
8. Let the webs dry again. This takes only an hour or less.

More Fall Crafts Using Pasta:

• Pasta Peace Bracelet
• Colored & Glittered Pasta Pumpkins 

Draw a Shaded White Spider Web

      During the Fall season, I frequently focus student's assignments on those themes that are inspired by the natural world. Drawing spider webs is a great way to include design principles, drawing techniques and science all together in one project. Students will need a few simple supplies for this drawing exercise:

• a large piece of black construction paper
• a white led pencil or white conte or white pastel etc... 

      Instruct the students to first draw a large X shape anywhere on their paper and divide the rest of the drawing into pie shaped pieces using their white lead pencils. Next they will need to draw a spiral design working their way out from the center of the web to the edges of the paper. Within this spiral they need to further divide the web sections into small rectangular shapes. Then they will need to shade each of these small shapes in order to create a similar web to the one I have shown in the photograph above. Students may also wish to include a large black spider somewhere within their web design as well.

      With this drawing exercise, students will learn how to shade a tiny space gradually, the differences between positive and negative space, and also about repeating patterns. I recommend the exercise for fifth or sixth graders.

Draw More Spider Webs:

• Mondrian Spider Webs
• Anansi the Spider
• Invisible drawings: Spiderwebs