Steps to draw a woodchuck, a weasel, and an opossum...

It takes only five steps to draw this woodchuck.

       Woodchucks have very coarse hair, a heavy body, short bushy tail, powerful legs and feet that are made perfect for digging. Farmers do not always like them because they can do great damage to a garden or crops. In February the second he wakes from his long winter sleep and appears at the mouth of his burrow, if he sees his shadow it is supposed to be a sign of six more weeks of cold weather!

You can draw a weasel in just five steps too!

       Sometimes farmers do not like weasels because they can kill chickens. But many people love to make coats from this furry little creatures coat! For in the winter time he has a snow white coat, except the tip of his tail which is black. Sometimes he is called an ermine but when spring comes his coat turns reddish brown and then he is called a weasel.

This opossum took six steps to draw.

       An opossum is about the size of a cat and is noted for being very cunning. It has a very long tail which it likes to hang by, head down from a branch. Of course you have heard of "playing possum" which means to play dead; the opossum does this when it is threatened.

Draw bees and clover for St. Patrick's Day

       The series of simple shapes shown above can help you draw a field of clover with bees happily buzzing around the blooms for a Saint Patrick's Day activity. There are three different ways to picture the tiny stripped pollinators.
       The clover blossom and leaves are blocked out first in lightly marked lines, as indicated in figure 1. Continue with your drawing, and when you have finished it, as shown in figure 3., you may sketch as many bees as you like resting lightly on top of the clover blossoms. That is the way we often see bees when they are gathering honey in the summertime. Also include some of the bees flying about your clover drawing as well.

• Cut and paste a clover mosaic
• Stencil bunnies eating clover
  

How to draw a furry fox...

 

      The first thing in drawing is to understand the form of the object or animal you wish to picture. Some animals are oddly shaped or so full of details that students must stop to first give a minute or two in the study of the critter. Find the general outlines of the foxes' head with his ears pricked up and alert. You can see that the ears and head included his snout form four distinct triangles. Once you have drawn these, move on to filling in the smaller details like his nose, his whiskers, and eyes. The rest of his head then may be easily filled out.

How to draw a peacock, an ostrich and a blue jay...

       Draw three interesting birds: the peacock, the ostrich and the blue jay, using simple shapes. Step-by-step illustrations are shown below so that young students may discover just how simple it is the accomplish these drawing exercises.

       When you first look at a Peacock you might think he would be difficult to draw. But if you just break down his body into simple shapes starting with an oval, drawing becomes simple. Add a head, then his feet, next his wings and last his beautiful tail.

       Start with a circle to draw the ostrich. Some say that if he can't see you, he thinks that you can't see him. He is the largest bird in the world and can't even fly! But how he can run and kick with those giant long legs of his!

 

       The blue jay is a member of the Crow family, he is not such a plunderer as the Crow. In fact, he does a great deal of good by eating many insects that feed on the foliage of trees. He has a bad habit of being meddlesome. This makes him very unpopular in bird society and when he approaches a tree, the other birds fly away.

A fun drawing game for a crowd

 

       This is an old parlor game sometimes referred to as "The Artist's Menagerie" 

      A pencil and a piece of paper are given each player. The paper is folded in three. Each draws a head of a man, or beast, or fish, according to the fancy of the moment, on the upper third, carrying the lines of the neck just over the fold, as a guide to the next artist, and fold it down, and passes it to his left-hand neighbor. He draws a body proceeding from the lines of the neck, folds it over, and passes it on. The third player adds the legs. The paper is then opened, and frequently the picture will resemble the absurd example shown here. The combinations are often even sillier than the sample drawing!

More Drawing Games:

• Five Dots Drawing Games
• Hieroglyphics or Picture Writing

The Love of Nature

 THE LOVE OF NATURE
by Wordsworth

The sounding cataract
Haunted me like a passion ; the tall rock,
The mountain, and the deep and gloomy wood,
Their colors and their forms, were then to me
An appetite, a feeling and a love
That had no need of a remoter charm
By thought supplied, or any interest
Unborrowed from the eye.

That time is past,
And all its aching joys are now no more,
And all its dizzy raptures. Not for this
Faint I, nor mourn, nor murmur ; other gifts
Have followed, for such loss, I would believe,
Abundant recompense. For I have learned
To look on nature, not as in the hour
Of thoughtless youth, but hearing oftimes
The still sad music of humanity,
Nor harsh, nor grating, though of ample power
To chasten and subdue.

And I have felt
A presence that disturbs me with the joy
Of elevated thoughts ; a sense sublime
Of something far more deeply interfused,
Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns,
And the round ocean, and the living air,
And the blue sky, and in the mind of man ;
A motion and a spirit that impels
All thinking things, all objects of all thought.
And rolls through all things.

Therefore am I still
A lover of the meadows and the woods
And mountains, and of all that we behold
From this green earth ; of all the mighty world
Of eye and ear, both what they have create
And what perceive ; well pleased to recogni/e
In nature, and the language of the sense,
The anchor of my purest thoughts, the nurse,
The guide, the guardian of my heart, and soul
Of all my moral being

Visit Midwestern Arboretums:

• Missouri Botanical Garden
• Bartlett Arboretum
• Iowa Arboretum
• The Lincoln Park Conservancy

The Oak

THE OAK by George Hill

A glorious tree is the old gray oak;
He has stood for a thousand years
Has stood and frowned
On the trees around,
Like a king among his peers;
As around their king they stand, so now,
When the flowers their pale leaves fold
The tall trees round him stand, arrayed
In their robes of purple and gold.
He has stood like a tower
Through sun and shower,
And dared the winds to battle ;
He has heard the hail,
As from plates of mail,
From his own limbs shaken, rattle ;
He has tossed them about, and shorn the tops
(When the storm has roused his might)
Of the forest trees, as a strong man doth
The heads of his foes in fight.

The Oaks of Earth:

• Oak trees: kings of biodiversity
• Oaks of the world
• Key to Diseases of Oaks in the Landscape
• Why you should plant oaks? 

Plant A Tree

PLANT A TREE by Lucy Larcom

He who plants a tree
Plants a hope.
Rootlets up through fibres blindly grope;
Leaves unfold into horizons free.
So man's life must climb
From the clouds of time
Unto heavens sublime.
Canst thou prophesy, thou little tree,
What the glory of thy boughs shall be?

He who plants a tree
Plants a joy;
Plants a comfort that will never cloy.
Every day a fresh reality.
Beautiful and strong,
To whoso shelter throng
Creatures blithe with song.
If thou couldst but know thou happy tree,
Of the bliss that shall inhabit thee.

He who plants a tree
He plants peace.
Under its green curtains jargons cease,
Leaf and zephyr murmur soothingly;
Shadows soft with sleep
Down tired eyelids creep,
Balm of slumber deep.
Never hast thou dreamed, thou blessed tree,
Of the benediction thou shalt be.

He who plants a tree
He plants youth;
Vigor won for centuries in sooth;
Life of time, that hints eternity!
Boughs their strength uprear,
New shoots every year
On old growths appear.
Thou shalt teach the ages, sturdy tree,
Youth of soul is immortality.

He who plants a tree
He plants love;
Tents of coolness spreading out above
Wayfarers, he may not live to see
Gifts that grow are best;
Hands that bless are blest;
Plant, life does the rest!
Heaven and earth help him who plants a tree,
And his work its own reward shall be.

Plant a Tree Projects:

• The Nature Conservancy: "A Billion Begins with One
• Plant-A-Tree Program with U.S. Forest Service
• STEM: Plant A Tree
• The Canopy Project 

The Forest Trees

 THE FOREST TREES by Eliza Cook

Up with your heads, ye sylvan lords,
Wave proudly in the breeze,
For our cradle bands and coffin boards
Must come from the forest trees.

We bless ye for your summer shade,
When our weak limbs fail and tire;
Our thanks are due for your winter aid,
When we pile the bright log tire.

Oh! where would be our rule on the sea,
And the fame of the sailor band,
Were it not for the oak and cloud-crowned pine,
That spring on the quiet land?

When the ribs and masts of the good ship live,
And weather the gale with ease,
Take his glass from the tar who will not give
A health to the forest trees.

Ye lend to life its earliest joy,
And wait on its latest page;
In the circling hoop for the rosy boy,
And the easy chair for age.

The old man totters on his way,
With footsteps short and slow ;
But without the stick for his help and stay
Not a yard's length could he go.

The hazel twig in the stripling's hand
Hath magic power to please ;
And the trusty staff and slender wand
Are plucked from the forest trees.

Ye are seen in the shape of the old hand loom
And the merry ringing flail;
Ye shine in the dome of the monarch's home
And the sacred altar rail.

In the rustic porch, the wainscotted wall,
In the gay triumphal car;
In the rude built hut or the banquet hall,
No matter! there ye are!

Then up with your heads, ye sylvan lords!
Wave proudly in the breeze;
From our cradle bands to our coffin boards
We're in debt to the forest trees.

Arboretums and Gardens:

• Viles Arboretum
• Bayard Cutting Arboretum
• The Arboretum At Penn State

A Forest Hymn

 A FOREST HYMN by Bryant

The groves were God's first temples. Ere man learned
To hew the shaft, and lay the architrave,
And spread the roof above them ere he framed
The lofty vault, to gather and roll back
The sound of anthems; in the darkling wood,
Amid the cool and silence, he knelt down,
And offered to the Mightiest solemn thanks
And supplication. For his simple heart
Might not resist the sacred influence
Which, from the stilly twilight of the place,
And from the gray old trunks that high in heaven
Mingled their mossy boughs, and from the sound
Of the invisible breath that swayed at once
All their green tops, stole over him, and bowed
His spirit with the thought of boundless power
And inaccessible majesty. Ah why,
Should we, in the world's riper years, neglect
God's ancient sanctuaries, and adore
Only among the crowd, and under roofs
That our frail hands have raised? Let me at least,
Here in the shadow of this aged wood,
Offer one hymn thrice happy, if it find
Acceptance in His ear.

Father, thy hand
Hath reared these venerable columns. Thou
Didst weave this verdant roof. Thou didst look down
Upon the naked earth, and, forthwith, rose
All these fair ranks of trees. They, in thy sun,
Budded, and shook their green leaves in thy breeze,
And shot toward heaven. The century-living crow
Whose birth was in their tops, grew old and died
Among their branches, till at last they stood,
As now they stand, massy, and tall, and dark,
Fit shrine for humble worshipper to hold
Communion with his Maker.

Thou hast not left
Thyself without a witness in these shades.
Of thy perfections. Grandeur, strength and grace
Are here to speak of Thee. This mighty oak
By whose immovable stem I stand and seem
Almost annihilated not a prince,
In all that proud old world beyond the deep,
E'er wore his crown as loftily as he
Wears the green coronal of leaves with which
Thy hand has graced him. Nestled at his root
Is beauty, such as blooms not in the glare
Of the broad sun. That delicate forest flower,
With scented breath and look so like a smile,
Seems, as it issues from the shapeless mould,
An emanation of the indwelling Life,
A visible token of the upholding Love,
That are the soul of this wide universe.

Gardens and Arboretums:

• WSU Arboretum & Wildlife Conservation Center
• Fullerton Arboretum
• UCI School of Biological Sciences

Planting for The Future

 PLANTING FOR THE FUTURE by Harriet Wright

In youth's glad morning hour,
All life a holiday doth seem;
We glance adown time's vista long
Beholding but the sunny gleam.

The happy hearts that meet to-day,
In a loving band are drawn more near
By the loving end that crowns our work,
Planting trees for a future year.

O tender trees! ye may thrive and grow,
And spread your branches to the sun,
When the youthful band assembled here,
Has reaped life's harvest, every one.

When the shining eye shall lose its fire,
When the rosy cheek shall fade away,
Thou'lt drink of the dew and bask in the light
Forgetful of this Arbor Day.

The bounding heart, the active limb,
The merry laugh and sparkling jest,
Be mingled with the things of earth,
And sink to solitude and rest.

But o'er this ground with branching arms,
These trees shall cast their leafy shade,
And other hearts as light and gay,
Shall reap the shelter we have made.

So let our planting ever be, 
Something in store for a future year,
When homeward with our harvest bound,
We'll meet the Master without fear.

Help Build The New Forests:

• How China turned the desert into green forests
• 5 Most Epic Earth Healing Projects
• Restoring dry land in Tanzania
• Lebanon: Planting cedar trees in a country in crisis
• 50 Years Ago, This Was a Wasteland, Now See It!
• We bought land in Scotland to plant a forest!
• Man spends 30 years turning degraded land into massive forest.

Forest Song

FOREST SONG by W. H. Venable

A song for the beautiful trees!
A song for the forest grand,
The garden of God's own land,
The pride of His centuries.
Hurrah! for the kingly oak,
For the maple, the sylvan queen,
For the lords of the emerald cloak,
For the ladies in living green.

For the beautiful trees a song,
The peers of a glorious realm,
Linden, the ash, and the elm,
The poplar stately and strong
Hurrah! for the beech-tree trim,
For the hickory stanch at core,
For the locust thorny and grim,
For the silvery sycamore.

A song from the palm, the pine,
And for every tree that grows
From the desolate zone of snows
To the zone of the burning line.
Hurrah! for the warders proud
Of the mountain-side and vale,
That challenge the thunder-cloud,
And buffet the stormy gale.

A song for the forest aisled,
With its gothic roof sublime,
The solemn temple of time,
Where man becometh a child,
As he lists to the anthem-roll
Of the wind in the solitude,
The hymn which telleth his soul
That God is the voice of the wood.

So long as the rivers flow,
So long as the mountains rise,
May the forest sing to the skies,
And shelter the earth below.
Hurrah! for the beautiful trees,
Hurrah! for the forest grand,
The pride of His centuries.
The garden of God's own land.

The Forest & The Worship & God's Creative Nature:

• God of Wonders
• Angus Dei-Worthy
• Your Love Oh Lord
• Things of Heaven 
• I Speak Jesus
• Lord I Need You

The heart of the tree...

 THE HEART OF THE TREE

What does he plant who plants a tree?
He plants a friend of sun and sky;
He plants the flag of breezes free;
The shaft of beauty, towering high;
He plants a home to heaven anigh
For song and mother-croon of bird
In hushed and happy twilight heard
The treble of heaven's harmony
These things he plants who plants a tree.

What does he plant who plants a tree?
He plants cool shade and tender rain,
And seed and bud of days to be,
And years that fade and flush again;
He plants the glory of the plain;
He plants the forest's heritage;
The harvest of a coming age;
The joy that unborn eyes shall see
These things he plants who plants a tree.

What does he plant who plants a tree?
He plants, in sap and leaf and wood,
In love of home and loyalty
And far-cast thought of civic good
His blessing on the neighborhood
Who in the hollow of His hand
Holds all the growth of all our land
A nation's growth from sea to sea
Stirs in his heart who plants a tree.

The Heart of A Tree:

• How a tree works...
• How Trees Grow
• How Trees Grow and Develop?
• How tall can a tree grow?

Woodman, Spare That Tree!

 WOODMAN, SPARE THAT TREE by George P. Morris

Woodman, spare that tree!
Touch not a single bough!
In youth it sheltered me,
And I'll protect it now.
'Twas my forefather's hand
That placed it near his cot,
There, woodman, let it stand;
Thy axe shall harm it not! 

The old familiar tree,
Whose glory and renown
Are spread o'er land and sea,
And wouldst thou hack it down?
Woodman, forbear thy stroke!
Cut not its earth-bound ties;
Oh, spare that aged oak,
Now towering to the skies!

When but an idle boy
I sought its grateful shade;
In all their gushing joy,
Here, too, my sisters played.
My mother kissed me here;
My father pressed my hand
Forgive the foolish tear;
But let that old oak stand.

My heart-strings round thee cling,
Close as thy bark, old friend;
Here shall the wild-bird sing,
And still thy branches, bend.
Old tree ! the storm still brave!
And, woodman, leave the spot;
While I've a hand to save,
Thy axe shall harm it not.

Forests Under Threat or Gone:

• Deforestation and Forest Degradation
• World's forests under threat from economic and environmental crises
• Forests Under Threat Tropical and Taiga Forests
• Learn about redwood forests from Sempervirens Fund
• The Threats To The Redwoods

Invitation

INVITATION by Charles Sangster

Oh, come away to the grave old woods
Ere the skies are tinged with light,
Ere the slumbering leaves of the gloomy trees
Have thrown off the mists of night ;
Ere the birds are up,
Or the floweret's cup
Js drained of its fresh'ning dew,
Or the bubbling rill
Kissing the hill
Breaks on the distant view;
Oh, such is the hour
To feel the power
Of the quiet, grave old woods!
Then, while sluggards dream,
Of some dismal theme,
Let us stroll,
With prayerful soul,
Through the depths of the grave old woods.

Oh, come away to the bright old woods,
As the sun ascends the skies,
While the birdlings sing their morning hymn,
And each leaf in the grove replies;
When the golden-zoned bee
Flies from flower to tree
Seeking sweets for its honeyed cell,
And the voice of praise
Sounds its varied lays
From the depths of each quiet dell:
Oh, such is the hour
To feel the power
Of the magic bright old woods!
Then, while sluggards dream
Of some trifling theme,
Let us stroll,
With studious soul,
Through the depths of the bright old woods.

Some of the oldest forests on Earth:

• Kakamega Forest
• Yakushima in the interior of Yaku Island
• The Bialowieza Forest
• The Tarkine Forest Reserve

The Ivy Green

THE IVY GREEN

Oh, a dainty plant is the ivy green,
That creepeth o'er ruins old!
Of right choice food are his meals I ween,
In his cell so lone and cold.
The walls must be crumbled, the stones decayed,
To pleasure his dainty whim ;
And the mold'ring dust that years have made
Is a merry meal for him.
Creeping where no life is seen,
A rare old plant is the ivy green.

Fast he stealeth on, though he wears no wings,
And a staunch old heart has he!
How closely he twineth, how tightly he clings,
To his friend, the huge oak tree!
And slyly he traileth along the ground,
And his leaves he gently waves,
And he joyously twines and hugs around
The rich mould of dead men's graves.
Creeping where no life is seen,
A rare old plant is the ivy green.

Whole ages have fled, and their works decayed,
And nations scattered been;
But the stout old ivy shall never fade
From its hale and hearty green.
The brave old plant in its lonely days
Shall fatten upon the past;
For the stateliest building man can raise
Is the ivy's food at last.
Creeping where no life is seen,
A rare old plant is the ivy green.

CHARLES DICKENS

The Good Daughter

 The Good Daughter

MY merry little daughter
Was climbing out of bed -
"Don't you think I'm a good girl,''
My little daughter said;
"For all day long this lovely day
And all day long to-morrow,
I haven't done a single thing
To give my mother sorrow!"

An Early Childhood Prayer

An Early Childhood Prayer 

Now I lay me down to sleep:
I pray the Lord my soul to keep/
Was my childhood's early prayer
Taught by my mother's love and care.
Many years since then have fled;
Mother slumbers with the dead;
Yet methinks I see her now,
With lovelit eye and holy brow,
As, kneeling by her side to pray.
She gently taught me how to say,
"Now I lay me down to sleep :
I pray the Lord my soul to keep."

Oh! could the faith of childhood's days.
Oh! could its little hymns of praise.
Oh! could its simple, joyous trust
Be re-created from the dust
That lies around a wasted life.
The fruit of many a, bitter strife!
Oh, then at night in prayer I'd bend,
And call my God, my Father, Friend,
And pray with childlike faith once more
The prayer my mother taught of yore,
"Now I lay me down to sleep:
I pray the Lord my soul to keep."

Eugene Henry Pullen

Bright little fairy tales...

 Bright little fairy tales...

There was a place in childhood that I
remember well,
And there a voice of sweetest tone bright
fairy tales did tell;
And gentle words and fond embrace were
given with joy to me
When I was in that happy place, upon my
mother's knee.

When fairy tales were ended, "Good night,"
she softly said.
And kissed, and laid me down to sleep within
my tiny bed;
And holy words she taught me there - me-
thinks I yet can see
Her angel eyes, as close I knelt beside my
mother's knee.

In the sickness of my childhood, the perils
of my prime,
The sorrows of my riper years, the cares of
every time;
When doubt and danger weighed me down,
then pleading all for me.
It was a fervent prayer to Heaven that bent
my mother's knee.

Samuel Lover

Soft and Low

 Soft and Low

Mother, crooning soft and low,
Let not all thy fancies go,
Like swift birds, to the blue skies
Of thy darling's happy eyes.

Count thy baby's curls for beads,
As a sweet saint intercedes;
But on some fair ringlet's gold
Let a tender prayer be told

For the mother, all alone,
Who for singing maketh moan,
Who doth ever vainly seek
Dimpled arms and velvet cheek.

Mary Frances Butts

Singing Mother To Sleep

 Singing Mother to Sleep

Back and forth in a rocker,
Lost in revery deep.
The mother rocked while trying
To sing the baby to sleep.

The baby began a-crowing.
For silent he couldn't keep -
And after awhile the baby
Had crowed his mother to sleep.

Richard Kendall Munkittrick

The Voice of My Mother

The Voice of My Mother

The voices of the Loved and Lost are
stirring at my heart,
And memory's misered treasures leap to
life, with sudden start -

Thou art looking, smiling on me, as thou
hast looked and smiled. Mother,
And I am sitting at thy side, at heart a very
child. Mother!

I'm with thee now in soul, sweet Mother,
much as in those hours,
When all my wealth was in thy love, and in
the birds and flowers.

And by these holy yearnings, by these eyes
sweet tears wet,
I know there wells a spring of love through
all my being yet.

Gerald Massey 

The picture of my mother...

The Picture of My Mother

Through many a year a picture dear
Hung just above my bed;
It plainly showed a shady road
That, curving gently, led
Past shrub and tree, till I could see.
Beside a blossoming vine,
My mother stand, as once she stood
When she was young, and I was good.
In days all sun and shine.

I saw her there, so sweet and fair.
When I drove off to school;
I knew the bliss of her fond kiss
On that deep porch and cool;
And every night the blessed sight
Of her above my bed
Consoled me for the boyish woes
Of absence - comforted I rose
When my brief prayer was said.

The change and strife of later life.
The years that leave me gray,
Have taken, too, that pictured view;
But cannot take away
The memory so dear to me.
That fond and wistful joy:
There stands my home, and mother's there.
So young, so good, so sweet and fair.
And I'm her little boy.

Oliver Marble

To My Mother

 TO MY MOTHER

A MOTHER heard our infant cries,
 And folded us with fond embrace,
And when we woke, our infant eyes
Were opened on a mother's face.

Our wishes she did make her own.
Her bosom fed and pillowed too.
Answering each start or fitful moan
With trembling pulses fond and true.

Then knowledge was a thing untaught:
Heaven's charity, a daily dole.
Stole in inaudibly, and wrought
Its gentle bonds about the soul.

by Charles Tennyson Turner

Easter Lily

 

EASTER LILY

I wish I was a lily white,
Growing in the grass,
I'd have a message for each one,
That by my side did pass.
I'd say, "Look up into the sky
And think of God above,
He sent His Son to die for us,
Because of His great love."

Easter Index/ Previous Page/ Next Page

Easter Message

EASTER MESSAGE

I bring a message of good cheer,
Upon this Easter bright,
Jesus Christ is risen today,
And to the world brings light.

 

Lambs Leaping Paper Cut Border

        Download and print out the pattern below. The dotted lines indicate where the image will be folded to continue the leaping lambs silhouette seamlessly after it is unfolded. The number of images "linked" together in one continuous chain is determined by the length of the paper being cut. Use a very thin paper to make your cutting easier. Cut away the areas indicated by the design. (see image above and read text on the pattern below. This paper-cut may be used as a border around an Eater bulletin board in a classroom or as a paper chain for a shelf at home.

Lambs Leaping paper cut border for the classroom.

Easter Index/ Previous Page / Next Page

Easter Day

 EASTER DAY

On Easter Day I love to think,
About our Savior dear,
How He died and rose again,
And cast out every fear.

Easter Index/ Previous Page / Next Page

"Jesus Knew" and Palm Leaf Paper Cut Border

JESUS KNEW

'Course everybody loved Him,
The folks that knew, I mean,
And the disciples sorrowed
A lot, 'cause they had seen

Their Jesus die upon the cross;
They laid Him in the grave
And wondered how it was He'd said
He came the world to save.

They only knew that He was gone,
They felt most awful blue,
'Cause they were just plain, common folks,
A lot like me and you.

But Jesus knew that He would rise,
And everything would be
Just like He said, so Easter Day
Brings joy to you and me.

Easter Palm Border: Paper Cutting Craft

Sample of what the palm leaf paper-cut will look like.

       Download and print out the pattern below. The dotted lines indicate where the image will be folded to continue the plams silhouette seamlessly after it is unfolded. The number of images "linked" together in one continuous chain is determined by the length of the paper being cut. Use a very thin paper to make your cutting easier. Cut away the areas indicated by the design. (see image above and read text on the pattern below. This paper-cut may be used as a border around a Easter bulletin board in a classroom or as a paper chain for shelves in a home, if you like.

Pattern for palm leafs cut-out.

Easter Index/ Previous Page / Next Page

"Tis Easter Day"

"Whoever wants to serve me must follow me,
so that my servant will be with me where I am.
 And my Father will honor anyone who serves me."
 John12:26

IF
If I had been with Mary
That first glad Easter Day,
When she brought spices to the tomb
And found the stone away,

I'm sure that I'd have been as glad
As anybody there
And I'd have looked among the rocks
And almost everywhere,

And maybe I'd have been the one
To hear the dear Christ say,
''Go tell my friends, now sorrowing,
I rose. 'Tis Easter Day.''

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Easter's Brightness

A little girl smells the Easter flowers on an antique postcard.

EASTER'S BRIGHTNESS
'Most everybody has new clothes
Or hats or something fine
At Easter, and I think sometimes
The sun just tries to shine

A little brighter so the flowers
Will hurry up and bloom
To show the world how Christ came out
From that dark, dismal tomb.

       Did you know that eggs, chrysalis and kernels of grain were all familiar symbols at Easter long ago? With the egg and chrysalis we are most familiar, but in olden times grains of kernels were also used. In England a tiny cross, together with grains of barley and wheat were once found in the center block of oaken mantel pieces. The custom had long been forgotten when it was recalled by this discovery of the three emblems in the mantel of the room in which Shakespeare was born. A Commissioner in charge of the restoration of this house, took from it a block of old wood for a souvenir on behalf of a friend who was a Shakespearean scholar. This scholar in turn, tried to split the wood so as to share the gift with another friend and discovered it to be hollow. Inside, it contained a cross, three grains of barley and a piece of tow (uncleansed wool). To his honor, be it said, the scholar restored the relic to the house at Stratford on Avon, where it is hopefully still on exhibition.

 At church, all little girls and boys
Sing hymns that tell of Easter joys.

Easter singing coloring page from 1950s

 

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Easter Secret

 EASTER SECRET

Do you know why we are happy,
Do you know why we are glad?
It's a secret that we treasure,
One that never makes us sad.

But to you we'll tell our secret,
If you promise us ahead,
To tell to all the world the message,
''Christ is risen from the dead.''

 

Jesus washes his disciples feet coloring page.

       "At the Last Supper Jesus got up from the table and washed the disciples' feet. When he came to Peter, the disciple asked him why he was doing it. Jesus said Peter would know later why he washed his feet. Then he told all the disciples that if he, their Lord and master, had washed their feet, they ought to serve each other in the same spirit. He said he did it to give them an example that they should follow. After the supper they all sang a hymn and left the upper room where they had eaten and went to the Mount of Olives."

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Poem "I Wonder" and A Butterfly Paper Craft

 I WONDER

I wonder if, that awful night,
The night when Jesus died,
When on the cross between two thieves
The Lord was crucified,

The little boys weren't frightened,
It grew so dark, you know,
And if they ran away and hid,
That night so long ago.

And then I wonder when they found
That Jesus Christ arose
If they weren't glad as anything.
'Spose anybody knows?

 

Butterfly and Iris Paper Cut Border

       Download and print out the pattern below. The dotted lines indicate where the image will be folded to continue the butterfly and iris silhouette seamlessly after it is unfolded. The number of images "linked" together in one continuous chain is determined by the length of the paper being cut. Use a very thin paper to make your cutting easier. Cut away the areas indicated by the design. (see image above and read text on the pattern below. This paper-cut may be used as a border around an Eater bulletin board in a classroom or as a paper chain for a shelf at home.

Butterfly paper cut border.

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My Easter Bunny

Sweet vintage postcard of grey bunnies for Easter.

 MY EASTER BUNNY

My Bunny has the longest ears
That ever you did see,
And just the brightest little eyes,
He almost winks at me!

And then I just imagine
I hear my Bunny say,
''My, everybody's happy
And glad on Easter Day.''

 The rabbits favorite foods are scrambled below! Try to guess what these are and leave some behind for him to snack on while he fills your basket with Easter eggs and marshmallow chics...

An Easter themed word scramble.

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The First Easter

  THE FIRST EASTER

I'spect that it was pretty dark
That morning long ago,
When those three women started out
With all those things to go

To where they knew their Christ was laid,
And everything was still,
And maybe not a sound was heard
By anyone until

That Mary saw the stone was gone,
And then the coming day
Began to make the whole world bright;
Then, when she turned away,

She saw a man come walking down
The path, and suddenly
She knew her Lord had risen indeed,
And wished the rest could see.

And I just 'spose that Jesus knew
Where the disciples stayed,
And so He said, ''Go tell them all.
'Tis I, be not afraid.''

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The Little Boy

A little boy with his slate makes figures and calculates.

 THE LITTLE BOY

You know I think that little boy
Who gave his lunch one day
To help to feed a hungry crowd
Who'd come a long, long way

To hear what Jesus said to them,
Was standing near that night
And wondered what a boy could do
To make things come out right.

And I'm 'most sure that he was there
With all the sorrowing men,
That little boy loved Jesus, too,
I know He'd be there then.

And Easter morning when the stone
Had all been rolled away,
I'm very sure that little boy
Was glad 'twas Easter Day.

As home from church, our way we wend,
Brother gives flowers to his friend.

A polite boy gifts an Easter jonquil to his friend.

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"The Stories I Like" and Little Lambs

Antique postcard of a little girl pulling her lamb toy on wheels.

THE STORIES I LIKE

I like to hear the stories
Of days of long ago,
You find them in the Bible
And when you do you know

They're everyone as true as true,
And that is just the way
We know that Jesus came to life
On that first Easter Day.

 Draw an old-fashioned Easter toy. This one is a lamb on wheels.

3 Steps to draw this little Easter lamb.

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Easter Bells

Vintage postcard of Easter egg "bells" among the pussy willow.

EASTER BELLS

Hear the church bells ringing,
Telling of God's love,
Little children singing,
Of our God above.

Each bell tells this message,
''Jesus Christ arose,
No more is He in the grave,
He's triumphed o'er His foes. 

 

The Easter bunnies are never late,
At sunrise, they come through the gate.

Vintage coloring from the 1950s of children and Easter bunnies.

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Easter Message

EASTER MESSAGE
Little robins singing sweetly,
In every bush and tree,
All are singing the sweet story,
''Jesus died and rose for me.'' 

Jesus uses parables to convey a spiritual truth about God. Coloring page.

 

       "After Jesus and his disciples came to Jerusalem he taught each day in the temple. The chief priests and the leaders of the people wanted to destroy him but they didn't know what to do because the people were so devoted to him. In the temple Jesus told stories to make it easier for them to understand his teaching. His stories are called parables. He said the most important thing to do was to love God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength. And you should love your neighbor as you love yourself."

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Easter Songs in Verse and for Coloring

Two children hunt giant Easter egg postcard.

EASTER SONG
Tune: Jesus Bids Us Shine
Easter Day is here and we all are glad,
Every one is happy, not a one is sad,
Each a message bringing, singing loud and clear,
From our Lord and Master, our Savior dear.
Jesus Christ is risen, risen from the dead,
Rise up from the darkness even as He said,
Now He reigns in Heaven, sends His love so free,
To all of His children, to you and me.

        Now color a choir boy in church singing his Easter song for services...

      On Good Friday, there are special services in many churches. Sometimes there is special music that includes Easter songs. Above is a little boy who is a member of an Easter choir singing hymns for Good Friday or for Easter Sunday. He holds a hymnal with a cross on the front cover. A hymnal is a book of songs sung to God about his love and saving grace. There is also pictured here a stained glass window for you to color as well and Easter lilies too!

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Easter message with chics!

A vintage Easter postcard shows child with chics.

 EASTER MESSAGE
I am but a little Child,
And have not much to say,
But I wish you each and all,
A joyous Easter Day. 

       Learn to draw baby chics step-by-step with just a few shapes. Then color them in with your crayons. When you finish your Easter picture give it to a friend or family member to hang in their home at Easter time.

Draw two baby chics dressed in capes pecking away at crumbs.

But best of all,
At Easter time
Is when you wake
Right up and find

Two little chicks
Or maybe three,
Busy as a chick
Can be

Scratching here and
There to find
Good things to eat
At Easter time.

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