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African Sand Paper Art:
Cave Drawings ("Petroglyphs")

This is a very simple, but very effective way to make a drawing that looks like it came right off an African cave wall.

I originally made this craft (the one in the photo) for Egypt (thus the pyramids).  Use images of lions, giraffes, rhinos and hunters with spears to give the craft an African theme.

We're not trying to replicate the art exactly, so after studying some African animals and explaining that cave drawings depicted the artists' lives just let the kids get creative.  Here's what Tasha (my 7 yr old) thought would be a good set of images:

 

Materials:

bulletpiece of coarse sandpaper (we used a 4inch x 6inch (ish) piece, but you could use whatever size you like)
bulletcrayola crayons (just your ordinary crayons).

Instructions:

bulletdraw an African scene on the sandpaper with crayons 
  
bulletDon't worry if the images are very basic.  That's what cave drawings look like.
    
bulletpress hard on the crayons.

Here's images of real cave drawings (petroglyph)

 

Here are some more ideas for what types of petroglyphs the kids might draw:

Rhino:                 Elephant:    

Lion:                 Giraffe: 

 

If you liked this project, check out the Dogon Rock Painting Craft and check out the various Dogon Petroglyph Designs

 

Printable version of these instructions