Air Transportation Silhouettes

       The air transportation silhouettes include the following:

• Montgolfier Balloon (A.) - first successful balloon 1781
• Gifford's Balloon (B.) - first powered airship 1852
• Dirigible - Zeppelin (C.)
• Lilienthal's Glided (D.) - first successful glider 1898
• Wright Brother's Plane (E.) - first successful motor driven plane 1903
• Lindberg's Plane 1927 (F.)
• Streamlined Plane (G.)
  

The Cat and Crows

The crow defends her young.

        A pair of crows once made their nest in a tree, of which there were several planted round the garden of a gentleman, who, in his morning walks, was often amused by witnessing furious combats between the crows and a cat. One morning the battle raged more fiercely than usual, till at last the cat gave way, and took shelter under a hedge, as if to wait a more favorable opportunity of retreating into the house. The crows continued for a short time to make a threatening noise; but perceiving that on the ground they could do nothing more than threaten, one of them lifted a stone from the middle of the garden, and perched with it on a tree planted in the hedge, where she sat, watching the motions of the enemy of her young. As the cat crept along under the hedge, the crow accompanied her, flying from branch to branch, and from tree to tree; and when at last the cat ventured to quit her hiding-place, the crow, leaving the trees and hovering over her in the air, let the stone drop from on high on her back.

The heroism of a hen

Hens to the rescue!

       A contest of rather an unusual nature took place in the house of a respectable innkeeper in Ireland. The parties concerned were, a hen of the game species, and a rat of the middle size. The hen, in an accidental perambulation round a spacious room, accompanied by an only chicken, the sole surviving offspring of a numerous brood, was roused to madness by an unprovoked attack made by a voracious cowardly rat on her unsuspecting chirping companion. The shrieks of the beloved captive, while being dragged away by the enemy, excited every maternal feeling in the affectionate bosom of the feathered dame ; she flew at the corner whence the alarm arose, seized the lurking enemy by the neck, writhed him about the room, put out one of his eyes in the engagement, and so fatigued her opponent by repeated attacks of spur and bill, that in the space of twelve minutes, during which time the conflict lasted, she put a final period to the nocturnal invader's existence; nimbly turned round, in wild but triumphant distraction, to her palpitating nestling, and hugged it in her victorious bosom.

Halloween Silhouettes for The Classroom

        These silhouettes (cut from black paper for decorating windows or cut from white paper for decorative borders) are made by folding a sheet of paper into three sections as show below. The folded sections are then folded once more to make three sections of equal size. Sketches for the silhouettes should be made twice the width and exactly the height of the paper in its final fold. When satisfactory sketches are completed and after care has been taken to have them symmetrical and with no cutting to be done through the lefthand folds of the paper, one half of the sketch (vertically) should be sketched or traced on the folded paper and cut out.

Students will need either black, white, or orange construction paper and a pair of scissors to assemble this paper Halloween craft.

Halloween Lantern Designs for The Classroom

       Illustrated below are two simple methods for cutting and assembling paper Halloween lanterns for the classroom. Included also are a few simple silhouettes that students may copy to emphasize the theme: a black cat, a black bat, a witch with a cane and Jack-o-lantern.

Students will need black construction paper, scissors, a ruler and glue to complete these projects.

Craft a moving squirrel cut-out...

Directions for Making the Squirrel:

1. Trace the pattern onto a sheet of cardboard or thick drawing paper.
2. Color the parts of the squirrel. Squirrels may be grey, brown, reddish brown or black.
3. Cut out the pieces care fully.
4. Fasten the front paws to the squirrel's body with brads.
5. Fasten his tail to the body next with a brad.
6. Fasten his front leg next using a brad. The wholes are marked on the printable cut-out.
7. When you are done, your squirrel will look like the small sketch in the corner.
   

Remorse

The elephant's cornack.

        An elephant, from some motive of revenge, killed his cornack or conductor. The man's wife, who beheld the dreadful scene, took her two children, and threw them at the feet of the enraged animal, saying, "Since you have slain my husband, take my life also, as well as that of my children." The elephant instantly stopped, relented, and as if stung with remorse, took up the eldest boy with his trunk, placed him on its neck, adopted him for his cornack, and would never afterwards allow any other person to mount it.

The Newfoundland Dog

The Newfoundland with his lantern.

        One of the magistrates in Harbor Grace, in Newfoundland, had an old dog of the regular web-footed species peculiar to that island, who was in the habit of carrying a lantern before his master at night, as steadily as the most attentive servant could do, stopping short when his master made a stop, and proceeding when he saw him disposed to follow. If his master was absent from home, on the lantern being fixed to his mouth, and the command given, "Go fetch thy master," he would immediately set off and proceed directly to the town, which lay at the distance of more than a mile from the place of his master's residence: he would then stop at the door of every house which he knew his master was in the habit of frequenting, and laying down his lantern, growl and strike the door, making all the noise in his power until it was opened; if his master was not there, he would proceed farther in the same manner, until he had found him. If he had accompanied him only once into a house, this was sufficient to induce him to take that house in his round.

Studying

The singing magpie.

        A magpie, belonging to a barber at Rome, could imitate to a nicety almost every word it heard. Some trumpets happened one day to be sounded before the shop, and for a day or two afterwards the magpie was quite mute, and seemed pensive and melancholy. All who knew it were greatly surprised at its silence; and it was supposed that the sound of the trumpets had so stunned it, as to deprive it at once of both voice and hearing. It soon appeared, however, that this was far from being the case; for the bird had been all the time occupied in profound meditation, studying how to imitate the sound of the trumpets; and when at last master of it, the magpie, to the astonishment of all its friends, suddenly broke its long silence, by a perfect imitation of the flourish of trumpets it had heard ; observing with the greatest exactness all the repetitions, stops, and changes. The acquisition of this lesson had, however, exhausted the whole of the magpie's stock of intellect; for it made it forget everything it had learned before.

A Faithful Companion

        A gardener, in removing some rubbish, discovered two ground toads of an uncommon size, weighing no less than seven pounds. On finding them, he was surprised to see that one of them got upon the back of the other, and both proceeded to move slowly on the ground towards a place of retreat; upon further examination he found that the one on the back of the other had received a severe contusion from his spade, and was rendered unable to get away, without the assistance of its companion!

The toad carries his wounded friend.

A False Alarm

The bell ringing baboon.

       Some years ago, a soldier doing duty at the castle of Cape Town, kept a tame baboon for his amusement. One evening it broke its chains unknown to him. In the night, climbing up into the belfry, it began to play with, and ring the bell. Immediately the whole place was in an uproar; some great danger was apprehended. Many thought that the castle was on fire; others, that an enemy had entered the bay, and the soldiers began actually to turn out, when it was discovered that the baboon had occasioned the disturbance. On the following morning a court-martial was held, when Cape justice dictated, that whereas the baboon had unnecessarily put the castle into alarm, the master should receive fifty lashes; the soldier, however, found means to evade the punishment.

Sagacious Bruin

The clever, hungry bear.

        The captain of a Greenland whaler being anxious to procure a bear, without wounding the skin, made trial of the stratagem of laying the noose of a rope in the snow, and placing a piece of meat within it. A bear ranging the neighboring ice was soon enticed to the spot by the smell of the dainty morsel. He perceived the bait, approached, and seized it in his mouth; but his foot at the same time, by a jerk of the rope, being entangled in the noose, he pushed it off with his paw, and deliberately retired. After having eaten the piece he had carried away with him, he returned. The noose, with another piece of meat, being replaced, he pushed the rope aside, and again walked triumphantly off with his capture. A third time the noose was laid; but excited to caution by the evident observations of the bear, the sailors buried the rope beneath the snow, and laid the bait in a deep hole dug in the center. The bear once more approached, and the sailors were assured of their success. But bruin, more sagacious than they expected, after snuffing about the place for a few moments, scraped the snow away with his paw, threw the rope aside, and again escaped unhurt with his prize.

A Strange Mouser

The chicken was a strange mouser.

        A gentleman once had in his possession a hen, which answered the purpose of a cat in destroying mice. She was constantly seen watching close to a corn rick, and the moment a mouse appeared, she seized it in her beak, and carried it to a meadow adjoining, where she would play with it like a young cat for some time, and then kill it. She has been known to catch four or five mice a day in this manner.

Making Sure

Teaching the crows to speak.

       During the war between Augustus Caesar and Marc Antony, when all the world stood wondering and uncertain which way Fortune would incline herself, a poor man at Rome, in order to be prepared for making, in either event, a bold hit for his own advancement, had recourse to the following ingenious expedient. He applied himself to the training of two crows with such diligence, that he brought them the length of pronouncing with great distinctness, the one a salutation to Caesar, and the other a salutation to Antony. When Augustus returned conqueror, the man went out to meet him with the crow suited to the occasion perched on his fist, and every now and then it kept exclaiming, "Salve, Caesar, Victor Imperator!' "Hail, Caesar, Conqueror and Emperor! Augustus, greatly struck and delighted with so novel a circumstance, purchased the bird of the man for a sum which immediately raised him into opulence.

The Power of Music

Music can be powerful magic.

        One Sunday evening, five choristers were walking on the banks of a river; after some time, being tired with walking, they sat down on the grass, and began to sing an anthem. The field on which they sat was terminated at one extremity by a wood, out of which, as they were singing, they observed a hare to pass with great swiftness towards the place where they were sitting, and to stop at about twenty yards' distance from them. She appeared highly delighted with the harmony of the music, often turning up the side of her head to listen with more facility. As soon as the harmonious sound was over, the hare returned slowly towards the wood; when she had nearly reached the end of the field, the choristers began the same piece again; at which the hare stopped, turned round, and came swiftly back to about the same distance as before, where she seemed to listen with rapture and delight, till they had finished the anthem, when she returned again by a slow pace up the field, and entered the wood.

A Conversing Parrot

The parrot who answered questions.

        During the government of Prince Maurice in Brazil, he had heard of an old parrot that was much celebrated for answering like a rational creature many of the common questions put to it. It was at a great distance; but so much had been said about it that the prince's curiosity was roused, and he directed it to be  sent for. When it was introduced into the room where the prince was sitting, in company with several Dutchmen, it immediately exclaimed in the Brazilian language, "What a company of white men are here!'' They asked it, ''Who is that man?" (pointing to the prince). The parrot answered, "Some general or other." When the attendants carried it up to him, he asked it, through the medium of an interpreter (for he was ignorant of its language), "Whence do you come?" The parrot answered, "From Marignan." The prince asked, "To whom do you belong?" It answered, "To a Portuguese." He asked again, "What do you there?'' It answered, "I look after chickens." The prince laughing, exclaimed, "You look after chickens!'' The parrot in answer said, "Yes, I; and I know well enough how to do it;" clucking at the same time in imitation of the noise made by the hen to call together her young. The prince afterwards observed that although the parrot spoke in a language he did not understand, yet he could not be deceived, for he had in the room both a Dutchman who spoke Brazilian, and a Brazilian who spoke Dutch; that he asked them separately and privately, and both agreed exactly in their account of the parrot's discourse.

Mimic

        A priest once brought up an orangutan, which became so fond of him that, wherever he went, it was always desirous of accompanying him. Whenever therefore he had to perform the service of his church, he was under the necessity of shutting it up in his room. Once, however, the animal escaped, and followed the father to the church; where silently mounting the sounding-board above the pulpit, he lay perfectly still till the sermon commenced. He then crept to the edge, and overlooking the preacher, imitated all his gestures in so grotesque a manner, that the whole congregation were unavoidably urged to laugh. The father, surprised and confounded at this ill-timed levity, severely rebuked his audience for their inattention. The reproof failed in its effect; the congregation still laughed, and the preacher in the warmth of his zeal redoubled his vociferation and his action; these the ape imitated so exactly that the congregation could no longer restrain themselves, but burst out into a loud and continued laughter. A friend of the preacher at length stepped up to him, and pointed out the cause of this improper conduct; and such was the arch demeanor of the animal that it was with the utmost difficulty he could himself command his gravity, while he ordered the servants of the church to take him away. 

The orangutan mimics the priest.

Template of Apples on A Branch

      Children will like to cut and color the kind of apple that they know. Then the teacher may choose the best apples of one variety for the class to arrange on a branch, which has been previously cut and taped on a window or stapled to a bulletin board. If desired the leaves may be cut separately from the large pattern below.

Large pattern of an apple branch with fruit and leaves.

Presidential Paper-Cuts for School

       Below are a selection of presidential paper-cuts to use in the classroom. These include symbols, profiles of presidents Washington and Lincoln, plus an outline of the Old Capitol Building.

Click on image to download the largest file.

Presidential Clip Art for Students & Educators

Description of Clip Art Pages: above is a selection of black and white clip art for former President Abraham Lincoln, below is a selection of black and white clip art for former President George Washington, both sheets include monuments, portraits and historical events

Don't forget to drag the png. or jpg into a Word Document and enlarge the image as much as possible before printing it folks. If you have a question about this coloring page, just type into the comment box located directly below this post and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can.

The Tale of the Jack-o'-Lantern

The Tale of the Jack-o'-Lantern

A Jack-o'-Lantern played some pranks
One moonlit Hallowe'en,
He started out all by himself
Determined to be mean.

He scared a tiny pussy cat,
A little puppy, too.
He made a cunning baby cry -
A dreadful thing to do !

He laughed and thought of other schemes.
Oh, he was bad that night.
His one idea was what to do
To bring somebody fright.

At last the joke was turned on him,
He chased a pussy cat.
It was a witch's pride and joy,
But how could he know that?

The big black pussy turned around.
It arched its back and tail,
It launched its long sharp claws at him
With snarls and long-drawn wail.

Its mistress witch then came to sight
And whacked him with her broom.
So that is how one pumpkin head
Was cracked unto his doom.

Pilgrims and Turkeys for Bulletin Boards

Simple large turkey pattern.

        These vintage outlines of a turkey and children dressed as Pilgrims may be used on your bulletin boards, walls or as window decorations. 

• Visit the Crayon Palace blog to find similar resources of Native Indigenous People and Pilgrims also here
  

Simple figures of pilgrim children.

Large Clock Face Pattern for Classroom Use

        A large clock face for teachers to print out and use with students in their classrooms. Comes with large and small hands to identify hours and minutes of the day on a traditional clock. Help young students practice reading time.

• Here is another printable clock face with solid black numbers...
• Small printable clock faces for doll crafts
  

Punch a hole in the middle of a clock face mounted on cardboard. Cut out hour and minute hands and punch holes on the ends. Insert a brad into all three holes and bend it at the back. Now students may use the clock to practice telling and writing time.

Halloween Window Decorations

Big cut-outs of a vintage jack-o-lantern, flying bat and black cat.

        I've restored these vintage, Halloween patterns for teachers to use in the decoration of their classroom windows, or on Bulletin Boards. If you need something festive for the walls in your room or in the school buildings halls, wherever these may be needed, educators are sure to need a few patterns to enlarge, cut from construction paper and apply to their room decor.

3 cut-outs of classic jack-o-lanterns for teachers plus Autumn leaves

5 Simple Halloween Crafts: Templates Included

       Some of the following crafts need adult supervision while a glue gun is in use. Please read through the instructions entirely before making the crafts with very young children. The crafts below are intended for decoration excluding the spider puppet. The spider puppet is for children five and up because of the stick. If your students or child can be responsible when playing with something pointy like this, it may be given to a 3 or 4 year old.

My version of this craft has an inner support and a stand.

A Shredded Paper Pumpkin Craft: My version of this old craft includes tubes and a stand for support so that it may be stored and kept from year to year without it getting smashed. Just wrap it in tissue and store it alone or with things light weight in nature. If you've measured the necessary lengths of the tubes in advance, this project can be made for students in first grade and up.

Supply List:

• orange, brown and green construction paper
• wooden or cardboard one inch diameter circle shape
  
• black marker
• white school glue

Step-by-Step Instructions for The Pumpkin:

1.  Roll lengths of tube using paper or cardboard to make both the inner support of the pumpkin shape and the stem of the pumpkin. You can do this step before or after you cut the strips for the pumpkin. The inner tube for the pumpkin should measure a couple of inches shorter than the length of the strips, so that the tips of the strips can be bent and glued to the top and bottom of the inner tube. This is how the shape of the pumpkin will be kept in place.
   
2. Cut strips of orange construction paper 1/2 inch wide, all equal in length. 
3. Cover the inner tube with orange construction paper to "hide" it from view.
   
4. Glue each strip's ends to both the top and bottom of the inner tube.
   
5. Glue the wooden or cardboard circular disk to the bottom of the woven pumpkin. this will help the pumpkin to stand on it's own.
6. Glue on the stem, after covering it with brown paper. 
7. Draw vein details with a fine tip marker, onto the stem.
8. Cut a small green leaf to glue to the top of the pumpkin. Add veining on this if you prefer.
   

Left, pictured are the tubes rolled from cardboard to give the "shredded paper pumpkin support.
 Right, see the gluing process. I'm firmly pressing the paper ends on top of the tube.

Left, I bent a few of my strips without the tube between in order to determine the length of tube
 that I would need for support between my strips of orange construction paper. Right, here you can
 see the end result after I have randomly "woven" the orange strips above and below the inner cardboard tube.

A cute little ghost peers through the window.

The Ghost In The Window Craft: A simple preschool/kindergarten level craft for Halloween.

Supply List: 

• 6 wooden craft sticks all the same length
• two googly eyes
• white school glue
• white and black construction paper
• brown acrylic paint
• ghost template below
  

Step-by-Step Instructions for The Ghostly Window:

1. Glue four wooden sticks together in the shape of a square.
2. Glue a cross piece on top of the square and wait for the glue to dry.
3. Print out the ghost in the window template, cut it out and then trace around it on top of white construction paper.
4. Glue the little ghost on top of black paper and paste on it's google eyes.
5. Then paste the ghostly view to the back side of the wooden window frame.
6. Paint the window frame brown.
   

A Black Batty Candy Container: You will need the following supplies for the bat: black construction paper, two googly eyes, the paper template for it's wings and one recycled toilet paper roll. Any child in Kindergarten through third grade will enjoy putting this project together for friends and family.

The back side and front sides of the cardboard tube candy container shaped like a bat for Halloween.

Left, recycled cardboard tubes. Center, painted tube for the bat body of the candy box.
Right, tracing around the wing template for the black batty candy box.

Step-by-Step Instructions for the Candy Holder:

1.  Paint a recycled paper toilet roll solid black.
2. Print out the template for the batty wings from below.
3. Cut the template and then trace around it on top of a black piece of construction paper.
4. Cut out the wings.
5. Pinch one sides' end of the paper tube shut. Use glue to make this permanent. You may need to use a clamp to hold this in place till the glue dries.
6. Hot glue the googly eyes in place near the top of the candy container where the bats head would be.
7. Pinch together the bat's pointy ears on opposite ends of the tube. This will create a crease in the cardboard while you are working. 
8. Apply a bit of shaping along these creases to "make" the closure for the candy box. 
9. Slip in some candy corn or wrapped candies into the tube shaped box if you prefer. Searve up this super sweet, batty box treat at a Halloween party!
   

The assembled recycled ghosts with curled paper trim.

Recycled Paper Ghosts: Paper recycling craft intended for early learning students through second grade. They will learn how to cut, trace, curl and paste!

Supply List:

• white school glue
• white recycled papers
• black marker
• small scissors 
• two ghost templates (below)
  

Step-by-Step Instructions for The Paper Ghosts:

1. Print the templates from below on white paper.
2. Cut long white paper strips and glue these to the backsides of the cut ghost bodies.
3. Take a pair of child scissors and curl the ends of the strips.
4. Use a black marker to make silly faces on the ghosts heads.
   

A Pom Pom Spider Stick Puppet: The supplies you will need for this craft are: two pom poms- one larger than the other, two googly eyes, one 6-12 inch wooden dowel, hot glue and gun and black construction paper. If making this with a young student, use store bought pom-poms. If your students are older, have them manufacture the pom-poms themselves.

Steps for assembling a pom-pom spider puppet.

Steps for making your own pom-poms.

Step-by-Step Instructions for the Spider Puppet:

1. Cut cardboard disks like the ones pictured above and wrap black yarn through the hole and around the shape.
   
2. Trim the pom-pom off the card.
3. Knot the clippings together tightly according to the illustration.
4. Make two pom-poms, one slightly larger.
5. Glue a wooden or cardboard disk to the end of a dowel or chop stick. 
6. Then glue on eight tiny paper spider legs equally distributed about the disk.
7. Hot glue the larger pom-pom on top of the disk and legs.
8. Hot glue the smaller "head" pom-pom to the end of the larger.
9. Hot glue on the google eyes.
   

Above are five ghost templates and one bat candy container wing. Three of the ghost patterns are
shown above. The templates for paper ghost chains will be covered in a later post and linked
back to this sheet of patterns.

Pets Tell Halloween Stories for Kids:

• Trick or Treat! Topi the Corgi Halloween Special
• When wiener dogs go trick or treating...
• Spooky, Sneaky Arlo the CAT!
• Dust Buddies by Mad Artist Publishing CGI & Films

How kids can quill a jack-o-lantern picture...

The finished Halloween picture, with quilled
3D jack-o-lantern.

        Learning to quill with construction paper is much easier than it looks. This cute little jack-o-lantern is made up of dozens of rolled construction paper strips glued within a pumpkin shaped outline. I've featured him here on top of his own construction paper fence. Little ones may also add more "spooky'' spider webs to their Halloween picture once the paper quills have dried.

Supply List:

• ample supply of orange, construction paper, shredded
• white acrylic paint or white pencil
• black marker
• black paper for background, brown paper for fence, green for leaves, brown for stem, red for pumpkin background
• white school glue

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. You can either cut strips of construction paper by hand or use a paper shredder for the craft if a large number of students are making this project. In either case you will need to make the strips of paper approximately 1/2 inch in width and the remaining length of the paper you have on hand. Not all quilling is regular, especially when teaching little kids. I intentionally made this sample using irregular cuts of paper and I think is looks very cute.
2. After cutting the paper in strips, wind it around a pencil, remove it and then roll it between your finger tips. Squeeze is tiny bit of glue onto the end of the paper roll in order the get then ends to stick and hold the quill in place. Now repeat this step many times until you have enough quills to glue on top of a larger picture and make a design. 
3. An important thing to remember while working on this project is that it takes some time to complete and that the glue must dry before the quills will even remotely adhere to the background. Be Patient!!!
4. I cut out strips of brown construction paper for the fence and also used brown strips for the quilled pumpkin stem. 
5. Use a black marker to draw "wooden" veins in the fence if you'd like.
6. I quilled green for the leaves, pinching the ends to make an oval shape. (see details below)
7. Then I quilled jack-o-lantern facial features using black paper and glued these on top of the orange quills.
8. After the construction paper dries, use a white pencil or paint to add spider web details to make a scene like the one show here.

Details showing what the rolled or quilled construction paper looks like when finished. 

• Quilled paper snail craft by Crafty Morning
• Easy paper quilling turtle made with construction paper by Twitchetts
• God's Rainbow Promise Quill Craft from the thinkingkidsblog

Weave a spider's web for a spooky Fall craft...

Sample spider web weaving craft above.

       Little ones can learn simple weaving skills with this Halloween spider craft. Teachers may choose to offer any number of Fall color combinations as far as craft supplies are concerned. As you can see by my samples. I've also shown here a variety of wooden craft stick sizes for the project.

Supply List:

• Popsicle sticks or coffee stirrers
• white, black, or orange yarn
• black, white or orange acrylic paint
• plastic spider (sold in bulk at dollar stores, optional)
• white school glue
• paint brush 
• sheet of sandpaper
  

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Make sure that the wooden surfaces of your craft sticks are clean. If these have any residue from prior use, because the sticks may be recycled, clean them up with a small piece of sandpaper.
2. Use white school glue to stack the craft sticks on top of each other in the shape of spokes on a wheel or like "stars." 
3. Let the glue between the layers dry thoroughly so that the webs formed by the layering become sturdy. 
4. Paint these shapes solid Fall colors: black, orange and white. Let dry
5. Now young students may weave the yarn about the wooden craft sticks to make their spiders's webs. 
6. The teacher may use a hot glue gun to paste a inexpensive plastic spider in the center of each child's web.
   

Left, are the "star like" shapes or spokes of a wheel formed by stacking wooden craft sticks and gluing them as you go. Right, I have painted each sample in the colors of Halloween: black, orange and white.

• Weave Indian Corn for Autumn Fun
• Weave trees for painted paper plate landscapes
• Weave a paper dress for a paper portrait

20 Facts About The Caterpillar/Butterfly

       Caterpillar. Mrs. Sigourney has written a child's poem about a butterfly, in which the beautiful insect sings as it flies through the sunny air, "I was a worm till I won my wings." Truly the ancients never conceived a myth more beautiful and wonderful than this familiar story of nature - the life history of the butterfly. 

Stages of the caterpillar and butterfly.

1. The lovely, winged creature is the fourth and last step in the development of the insect, and the caterpillar is the second, for it is the larva, or worm, that hatches from the egg. 
2. A study of the origin of the word caterpillar shows that it means, literally, hairy cat. 
3. Everyone is familiar with the woolly kinds, and the name, so far as they are concerned, is not inappropriate. 
4. There are, however, hairless kinds, the skin of which is often beautifully marked lengthwise or crosswise, or covered with rings and eye-spots.
5. When the tiny caterpillar first emerges from the egg it proceeds to eat, for this is to be its chief duty during the larva stage. 
6. The eggs are always deposited where plant food can easily be reached. 
7. Before very long the skin of the worm becomes too tight, for it does not increase as the body grows larger.
8. Accordingly the caterpillar soon crawls out through a split which occurs near the front end; that is, it molts (see Molting). 
9. This process is repeated four or five times, and in each case a new skin has formed under the old one.
10. The body of a full-grown worm is usually divided into twelve rings or segments, and each of the first three rings bears a pair of five-jointed legs. 
11. There are also short leg- stumps on the abdomen, which disappear when the last molting takes place.
12. On each side of the head there are six eye-spots; the head also bears a pair of short, three-jointed feelers, besides jaws and other mouth organs. 
13. Glands, some with unpleasantly odorous or stinging secretions, frequently occur on the skin.
14. There comes a time when the caterpillar ceases to eat and begins to prepare for the so-called pupal, or resting, stage. 
15. The caterpillar stage lasts two or three months in temperate regions, but it may be of two or three years' duration in Arctic lands. 
16. The quantity of food eaten is used to nourish the pupa. 
17. Moth caterpillars spin a casing of silk about them, and form cocoons, while the pupal stage of butterflies is passed in a hard skin covering. 
18. Butterfly pupae are called chrysalids. 
19. When the pupa reaches maturity the outside casing splits open, and the butterfly comes out, rather crumpled and weak at first, but soon ready to spread its wings for a happy life in the sunshine. 
20. The same processes of development occur in the life history of moths.

More About The Caterpillar/Butterfly:

• "He Is Risen Indeed!" Butterfly Coloring Page
• Create a Butterfly Yarn Picture
• A butterfly maze puzzle by kathy grimm...
• Craft a Butterfly Mask
• Life Again! and The Cocoon
• The Butterfly Poem
• A Living Butterfly paper craft
• Handy Little Butterflies
• Craft a Very Hungry Caterpillar
• Craft a Pom-pom Caterpillar SWAPS

Little Danny Donkey

Little Danny Donkey
by Helen Cowles LeCron

I hate to talk about it, 'cause
it's sad enough for tears,

But --little Danny Donkey didn't
like to wash his ears!

At breakfast every morning
Danny's mother sent him back

To do his washing over 'cause
his ears were simply black!

They say he's doing better now--
and oh, I hope it's true!

I'd hate to be so lazy and so
careless! Shouldn't you?

The Lady-Bug Rebus

Lady-Bug
by Gertrude A. Strickler

       Long long ago a lady-bug washed out her children's clothes. "But where to hang them up to dry," said she "O goodness knows!" It happened that a spider's home was in the grass close by, and on the spider's silken line, she hung them up to dry. Then Granny spider laughed "Ho! ho! those lady-bug's clothes are mine because they're in my web" and then she took them off the line. A measuring worm was looking 'round as on a leaf he stood. He saw it all and called for help, as loudly as he could. Then to the rescue cam a wasp, and tho he had to tug, he took the clothes from Granny's grasp and back to Mrs. bug. The clothes were torn but Lady-bug patched up the holes with black. And since that day each lady-bug wears holes upon her back...

• A Thanksgiving Acrostic
• A "Quotable" Christmas Acrostic

The Interrupting Owlet

The Interrupting Owlet
by Helen Cowles LeCron

When Mother Owl and Father
Owl are talking busily
About old Uncle Blinker in the gnarled
old maple tree,
Or Cousin Drowsy Hoot-Owl in the
oak across the way,
Or stylish Old Miss Snowy Owl, I
much regret to say
That naughty little Downy often inter-
rupts the two
To ask them, "Who'd you say it was?
Say! WHO, Pa? WHO, Ma?
WHO?"

Though Mother Owl has told him that
the question's impolite,
And little owls should never interrupt
on any night
When parents talk, it doesn't seem to
do a bit of good!
For Downy still continues, as no
thoughtful owlet would,
With "WHO, Pa? Who Ma?
Who'd you say?" and "Tell me,
folks! Aw! Do!"
And "WHO'D you say it was? Aw,
Ma! Say! WHO, Pa WHO,
Ma! WEHO--OO?"

Paper Cuts of Farm Animals

        Below, I have restored a few paper farm animals: horse, cow, goat, duck, rooster, sheep, dog, bunny, pig and cat. These may be freely used by students and teachers for the classroom. Silhouettes on my blog are not to be redistributed by alternative websites and are not meant to be sold or purchased.

These paper cuts of animals found on the farm would make great design
elements in a classroom or any other art project a young
student might need them for.

Find The Fish Puzzle

Puzzle - Find The Fish

Find The Fish
by Helen Hudson

A Joyful day it is for us,
Tommy and Richard and me,
For our friend Bill Jones is taking us
Where the biggest fish may be.

If it should be our luck to catch
The fish Bill tells about,
I really do not see quite how
We'd ever haul him out!

The Feathered Patriot

 The Feathered Patriot
by Daisy M. Moore

"Tcheer! Tcheer! Tcheer!"
I heard a warble clear;
How came a bird to know
That July Fourth is here?

"Tcheer! Tcheer! Tcheer!"
The warbler nearer drew,
And peering through the leaves
I saw his coat of blue.

I caught full sight of him
Before he flew away,
And knew just why he cheered
On Independence Day!

Of course, each one of you
Is wondering how I knew-
His lovely feather clothes
Were red and white and blue!

Find Columbia Puzzle

Puzzle - Find Columbia

Columbia
by Helen Hudson

We're very patriotic
As you can plainly see.
This birthday of our country
We celebrate with glee.

Columbia guides our footsteps
And, where her path may go,
We'll march along right valiantly
Though mighty be the foe!

Harry Hippopotamus

Harry Hippopotamus
by Helen Cowles LeCron

Now Harry Hippopotamus had
such a heavy tread
That when he ran about the house his
mother often said,
"Good gracious, Harry, softly, please!
Your stamping hurts my head!
Besides, you'll wake the baby, who is
fast asleep in bed!
Why, Harry, one would really think
your feet were made of lead!"

I like to think that long ago a change
was seen in Harry,
And he became as graceful and as
lightsome and as airy
As any meadow butterfly or any
woodland fairy!
Who knows? Perhaps the change has
made his parents glad and merry.
(And yet, an agile hippo would be far
from ordinary!)