Cave painting
I’ve been reading the Story of the World series of history books to my kids for the last few years, but this year we decided to begin again at book 1 and also do the associated activities (I didn’t have the student books before). For those who don’t know this series, it gives an overview of world history and tells it in an interesting and simple way. It feels like you’re really just reading lots of stories rather than a dry history book.
One of Monday’s activities was to try some cave painting! This was quite a lot of fun, so I thought it would be worth sharing even as a stand-alone art activity:
Materials
- some brown paper shopping bags
- black, beige and red paint
- thick paint brushes
Method
Cut up the paper bag so you end up with a decent-sized area to paint on, then scrunch it up a few times to create a slightly uneven surface (like a cave wall). Flatten the paper out and using black, paint some simple animals and hunters, exaggerating features like antlers or tusks. Once that’s dry, fill in the animals and hunters with the beige (we didn’t have any so just used orange!) and then highlight parts with the red paint.
The best part about it is that you don’t have to be an amazing artist to participate. Cave drawings are supposed to be a bit rustic, so everyone can just relax and enjoy the process! Who cares if the animals are unidentifiable – so are the animals in heaps of real cave paintings!
