Thrifty Scissors

Friday, August 18, 2017

Colorful Crayon Resist Llamas

These colorful crayon pictures of llamas were made by an enthusiastic bunch of first graders at the school where I worked several years ago. After completing their pictures they washed them with thin watercolors; the results are stunning, don't you think?

How fibers from llamas is processed to make sweaters.

Thursday, August 17, 2017

Caterpillar Finger Plays

This nursery finger play comes with pictures, hand motions and piano sheet music for early learning and kindergarten teachers.

Fuzzy little caterpillar,

Crawling, crawling on the ground!

Fuzzy little caterpillar,

Nowhere, nowhere to be found

Though we've looked and looked and hunted

Everywhere around!

When the little caterpillar

Found his furry coat too tight,

Then a snug cocoon he made him

Spun of silk so soft and light;

Rolled himself away within it--

Slept there day and night.

See how this cocoon is stirring!

Now a little head we spy--

What! Is this our caterpillar

Spreading gorgeous wings to dry?

Soon the free and happy creature

Flutters gayly by.

Sheet music to accompany the finger play.

Monday, August 14, 2017

How to make a paper pinwheel

Illustrations of pinwheels

No mechanical toy is more interesting to make, nor more interesting to watch in operation, than a miniature windmill. It is a very simple toy to construct, and the material for making one can usually be found at hand, which are two reasons why nearly every boy and girl at one time or another builds one.

The Paper Pin wheel shown in Fig. i is one of the best whirlers ever devised. A slight forward thrust of the stick handle upon which it is mounted starts it in motion, and when you run with the stick extended in front of you it whirls at a merry speed.

A piece of paper 8 or 10 inches square is needed for the pinwheel. Fold this piece of paper diagonally from corner to corner, both ways. Then open the paper, and with a pair of scissors cut along the diagonal creases, from the corners to within J inch of the center (Fig. 2). Next, fold corners A, B, C, and D over to the center, as shown in Fig. 3, run a pin through the corners and through the center of the sheet Fig. 2. - Diagram for Paper f paper, drive the point of this pin into the end of the stick handle, and the pinwheel will be completed.

pinwheel pattern

Decorate with pinwheels

Thursday, August 10, 2017

Thanksgiving Clip Art for Crafts

Enjoy celebrating Thanksgiving with your students using my clip art for personal crafts and classrooms. Read the Terms of Use before downloading.

A pastel drawing of a flocked turkey.

A native American teepee.

Vintage Indian travel doll

A pilgrim's hat, corn and pumpkin

Horn of plenty and text "Happy Thanksgiving"

Wednesday, August 9, 2017

Spooky Clip Art for All Hallow's Eve

Teachers, parents and little ones may decorate their personal Halloween crafts and treats with this clip art by Kathy Grimm. Read the Terms of Use.

An owl seated on top of a jack-o-lantern, text "Whoo Whooo"

"Happy Halloween!" spider and web

A creepy jack-o-lantern

"MEOW" black cat and text

Thoroughly Irish Clip Art

Below are some Irish themed clip art for your classroom's St. Patrick's Day celebrations. Decorate worksheets, games, and craft projects with students too! This clip art is original to my site and copyrighted, Read the Terms of Use before downloading.

A ladies hat trimmed with a plaid bow and shamrocks.

A tiny leprechaun, barrel and potatoes.

The Irish flag and lucky shamrocks.

A happy leprechaun carries a sack of potatoes

A leprechaun dressed in a green suit smoking a lucky pipe.

Valentine Cuties Clip Art

Valentine flowers

These little Valentine doodles were made years ago by my mother for her classroom projects. They would be fun to print on sticker paper and cut out for your students' next Valentine card craft. The clip art is free only for personal crafts and classrooms. Do not include it in any other online collections.

Valentine lady bugs

Valentines and ribbons

Valentines in a vase

Heart and stems for a Valentine

Friday, August 4, 2017

Salt Lifting Some Sand Castles

Here you can see, third and fourth grade art students have added a bit of table salt to their wet watercolor paintings of sand castles; this is called salt lifting. Although the end product is unpredictable, it is a fun additional step to add to your young student's watercolor painting experiences. That last additional step will give their castles a bit of extra sandy grit.

Use ordinary table salt to add texture to

your watercolor paintings.

Thursday, August 3, 2017

The Mist and All

Click to enlarge and download.

The Mist and All by Dixie Willson

I like the fall,

The mist and all.

I like the night owl's

Lonely call--

And wailing sound

Of wind around.

I like the gray

November day,

And bare, dead boughs

That coldly sway

Against my pane.

I like the rain.

I like to sti

And laugh at it--

And tend

My cozy fire a bit.

I like the fall--

The mist and all--

Lincoln

Click to enlarge and download.

Lincoln by Nancy Byrd Turner

There was a boy of other days,

A quiet, awkward, earnest lad,

Who trudged long weary miles to get

A book on which his heart was set--

And then no candle had!

He was too poor to buy a lamp

But very wise in woodmen's ways.

He gathered seasoned bough and stem,

And crisping leaf, and kindled them

Into a ruddy blaze.

Then as he lay full length and read,

The firelight flickered on his face,

And etched his shadow on the gloom,

And made a picture in the room,

In that most humble place.

The hard years came, the hard years went,

But, gentle, brave, and strong of will,

He met them all. And when today

We see his pictured face we say,

"There's light upon it still."

Wednesday, August 2, 2017

Paper Cutting & Silhouette Index

Examples of cut silhouette designs in paper from the collection below.

Papercutting is the art of cutting paper designs. The art has evolved uniquely all over the world to adopt to different cultural styles. Read more...

More Articles About The Art of Silhouetting:

Silhouette Artist Videos:

Paper Cut Artifacts to Illustrate Poems:

Patterns of Paper Cuts: Additional Motifs:

Insects or Bugs Index

Samples of insect artifacts in my collection below.

Is an insect useful or beautiful? No one could answer questions like these simply by saying "yes" or "no," because the class to which the name insects is applied includes thousands of different species and uncounted millions of individuals, of many degrees of usefulness, beauty and harmfulness. There is no other class in the animal kingdom, on land or in the sea which claims so many members as the class Insecta, as scientists designate it.

The Insect Coloring Pages from Crayon Palace

Insect Artifacts for Enhancing Lesson Plans:

Insect Artifacts from Easter Egg Crafts:

Tuesday, August 1, 2017

Saint Valentine's Day Index

Examples of Valentine Activities in my collection below.

A saint of the Roman calendar, said to have been martyred in A.D. 306. The custom of choosing valentines on his day (February 14th) has been accidentally associated with his name. On the eve of Saint Valentine's day, young people of both genders used to meet, and each of the men drew from a number of names of the opposite sex. Each gentleman thus got a lady for his valentine, and he became the valentine of a lady, to whom he was bound to be faithful for a year. A similar custom prevailed in the Roman Luperealia, to which the modern custom has with probability, been traced. The day now celebrated by sending through the post, sentimental or ludicrous missives, specially prepared for the purpose.

Valentine Artifacts & Art for Enhancing Lesson Plans:

Friday, July 28, 2017

Halloween or All Hollows Eve Index

Pictures of artifacts in my collection below.

Halloween is on the evening of October 31. Though the occasion is usually given over to frolics, mischief and entertainments of an hilarious nature, the name means, literally, Holy Eve. In fact, October 31rst is the eve of the Church festival of All Saints, which occurs on November 1rst. Long ago pagan people celebrated All Saint's Day in honor of the good and evil spirits which were believed to inhabit the earth, and the frolicking of today is merely a survival of these superstitious customs.
Children of the St. Louis, Missouri area are expected to perform a joke, usually a simple Halloween-themed pun or riddle, before receiving any candy; this "trick" earns the "treat". Sometimes children also perform a magic trick, recite a short poem or perform a simple tumbling trick, like a cartwheel, in order to receive their candy. Parents also normally accompany their children and most are in costume as well. Because I live in St. Louis, I've included listings of jokes and poems below.

Halloween Artifacts & Art for Enhancing Lesson Plans: St. Louis Style

Halloween Poems:

Ocean and Seashore Index

Pictures of artifacts in index below.

The ocean or sea is the vast body of water which covers nearly three-fourths of the surface of the globe. Although no portion of it is completely detached from the rest, the ocean has been theoretically divided into several great basins or areas, namely, the Pacific Ocean, which separates Asia and Australia from America; the Atlantic Ocean which separates America from Europe and Africa; the Indian Ocean, which intervenes between Africa and Australia; the Arctic and Antarctic oceans, round the North and South poles respectively. Between these divisions no very definite limits can be drawn; thus it is impossible to say where the Atlantic or the Pacific ends and the Antarctic or Southern Ocean begins.

Search the Ocean Life Coloring Index at Crayon Palace

Ocean and Seashore Artifacts & Art for Enhancing Lesson Plans:

More Ideas For The Study of The Sea:

Page last updated on February 12, 2022

Thursday, July 27, 2017

Children's Poetry & Prose Index

Many of the poems and prose in my index come with illustrated prints.

Poetry, one of the two greatest classes of literary production, the other being prose. According to the usual meaning of the term, poetry is rhythmical, imaginative language which appeals to the emotions and the artistic sense. As we think casually of the question, we take for granted that prose was the earlier form of literature. Moliere in one of his comedies shows the surprise of an old man who discovers that he has been, all his life, "talking prose without knowing it;" but most of us are conscious that we "talk prose," and we see nothing wonderful about it. Prose is so much simpler and more natural than poetry, we think, and surely the early nations must have had a well-developed prose literature before they ventured to attempt poetry?
Although nearly every category included under this blog lists poetry according to theme, the illustrated children's poetry is linked altogether here.

Hieroglyphics Artifacts:

Hieroglyphics or Picture Writing" The Owl and the Pussycat by Edward Lear

Illustrated Children's Poetry Artifacts for Enhancing Lesson Plans:

More Excellent Poetry Resource for Kids:

Apple Index

Sample pictures from the Apple Index below.

Apple, a fruit that many authorities consider the most valuable of any cultivated by mankind. It is by far the most generally cultivated of any grown in the temperate regions, and it is also one of the most appreciated. The person who does not enjoy eating apples is a rarity. The tree which bears this popular fruit belongs to the rose family. It can be grown in Norway and other countries as far north as 65 degrees north. The blossoms are very susceptible to injury from frost, but they appear mush later then peach or apricot blossoms and so avoid the late frost which would be fatal to fruit bearing. Apple trees reach a moderate height and have spreading branches. The leaves are nearly oval, and the pinkish-white flowers are produced from very short shoots or spurs, which are usually of two years' growth.

Apple Artifacts & Art for Enhancing Lesson Plans:

Apple Themed Poems:

A Summer Snowstorm!
Little Apple Rhymes and Poems - several poems
The Apple Rhyme
The Planting Of The Apple Tree
Apple Time - multiple short rhymes
At Apple-Pickin' Time
The Cider Mill

More Fun Apple Crafts:

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