With Halloween around the corner, thoughts of Haunted Houses, Castles and even Dragons may be popping into your heads. At the Park we’re working on Haunted House & Castle Crafts. We’ve created Haunted Houses for a couple of years. This year we thought we would make some Castles too!
For the Haunted House, all you need are 4 pieces of construction paper – Black, Yellow, White and your choice of color for the doors, scissors, stick glue, invisible tape, short pieces of wire (or pipe cleaners), marker, white gelly roll pen, pencil and/or crayon. Fold the Black piece of construction paper in half and the halves toward the center making 4 panels. Use a crayon or pencil to create the roof shapes in each panel. Then cut them out with the scissors. Now you have your four walls. Use the Yellow construction paper to make your window designs. I used Brown for the doors. Cut them out and attach them with the stick glue.
A black marker is a great tool for finishing the details on the windows & doors. A pencil, artist pen and markers are used to add a black cat, a spider and Dinosaurs on the windows. You can make bats from the scraps of black paper and ghosts from regular white paper. I searched online for images of both to provide inspiration for my drawings. I made bats of various sizes. The white gelly roll pen made the eyes for the bats. The invisible tape attaches the wires to the house as well as the bats & ghosts to the other ends. I started with the smallest bat and worked to the largest going away from the house to give the look that the bats are flying towards you.
For the Castle the steps are about the same. I searched online for images to inspire and made a practice drawing on regular paper. A white gelly roll pen over the details I originally penciled on the black cardstock. I added a moon more bats and a couple of ghosts. For a Fairy Tale style Castle substitute white cardstock for the castle. A black pen to go over your penciled details and various pastel markers or crayons to color. Instead of bats & ghosts perhaps fairies & stars.
Are Dragons Dinosaurs? Short Answer: No. Long Answer: Well, Maybe sort of.
In the 10,000 years human beings became civilized, virtually every culture in the World has referenced supernatural monsters in its folk tales. As far back 310 BC in Egyptian writings and to the Bronze Age in Chinese ritual vessels. In Mesopotamian Artwork dating back to 2334 – 2154 BC these creatures are depicted.
Some take the form of Scaly, Winged, Fire Breathing Reptiles – Dragons! At least that’s how their know in the Western Civilizations. Huge, Dangerous and Fiercely Antisocial typically killed by a Knight in Shining Armor. Dragon comes from the Greek “drakon” meaning “serpent” or “water-snake”. The earliest mythological dragons resemble snakes more than dinosaurs or pterosaurs. In Asian mythology they are referred to as “long” the Chinese name for dragon.
My Dragons Watercolor.
Here are 3 Schools of thought regarding the origins of Dragons:
First, Dragons were mixed and matched from the most frightening predators of the time. What you don’t see is usually more terrifying than what you can. Therefore, imaginations can make stories very wild. Especially with early man fighting off Lions, Tigers & Bears to mention a few. These stories not unlike your typical “fish story” could easily have been enhanced at the repeating to each new generation.
Second, Dragons were inspired by the discovery of giant fossils. People have been finding fossils before there was a name for their study. Even today’s paleontologists spend hundreds even thousands of hours removing them from rocks and determining how to reassemble what is often a jumble of species. What if you found the remains of Quetzalcoatlus wings (a giant Pterosaur) and a Tyrannosaur mixed together? That would certainly look like a Dragon to me. So, you can imagine how several hundred years ago some pretty bizarre animals could have been created by what was found after a storm exposed the remains. The Gobi Desert and various parts of China are famous for incredibly preserved Dinosaur fossils.
Third, Dragons were based on recently extinct mammals & reptiles. Early man finding the remains of a saber tooth, giant snake or other mammals & reptiles that together could form the visions of a Dragon. Remember “Harry Potter’s” Basilisk? And don’t forget his family of Dragons from all over the World. There was definitely inspiration for them.
I like the Second School’s thinking.
I shared the book from the American Museum of Natural History “Mythic Creatures And the Impossibly Real Animals Who Inspired Them” with Xiuhcoatl our resident Dragon, Delores del Rio Dilophosaurus, Pterosaur Antonio & Dominic the T-Rex. We checked out online information about Dragons too! The book is Adapted from and exhibition curated by Laurel Kendall & Mark A. Norell with Richard Ellis and the American Museum of Natural History Exhibition Department. Xiuhcoatl was happy to see her friend Quetzalcoatl (feathered serpent) discussed. However, she felt slighted that she wasn’t mentioned. How could they leave out Xiuhcoatl? The Dragon of Fire & Lightening that guides the Sun across the Sky! Somebody’s in Trouble!
So, back to the Question are Dragons Dinosaurs? Due to the conditions that must take place for an animal to become fossilized, it’s estimated that only 1/10 of 1% of the animals that existed became fossils. Is it possible that Dragons escaped the fossil process? or just haven’t been discovered yet? I like to believe Dragons are Undiscovered Dinosaurs, Xiuhcoatl does too!
Stay Tuned for More Dinosaur Fun Facts, Fiction & Crafts!
Consider a Membership with the Museum. In addition to Supporting Their Valuable Work there are Benefits to You. Special Preview Events for Members Only as well as Virtual Access Exclusive for Members. Below are 3 of my favorites Museums. For more information and access to general public eLearning check out the links below.
The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County www.nhm.org under Research & Collections / Digitized Collections will allow you to browse their Collections. Check out the latest Activities on their site. October 3rd – 31st Boney Island – an interactive Halloween light-up experience. Look for Gnatalie the Green Dinosaur as early as November 17th.
The American Natural History Museum www.amnh.org You will find eLearning for Families, Students & Educators. Explore the Museum Virtually. Check Out SciCafe: Video Talks and Meet the Icons: Stories behind the Exhibits! There are Video Series covering Behind the Scenes at the Museum with Space & Dinosaur Explainers.
Chicago’s Field Museum www.fieldmuseum.org You can talk to “Maximo the Titanosaur” online, Yes Really! Visit Sue the largest T-Rex discovered! Check Out “Brain Scoop” and the Learning Resources – many are also in Spanish.
Check Out Your Libraries eBooks. My local Library has over 900 eBooks on Dinosaurs! Here are four books for Drawing Dinosaurs that you might find at your Library. Ask your Librarian about others.
1-2-3 Draw Dinosaurs and other Prehistoric Animals A step by step guide by Freddie Levin (2001)
Draw 50 Dinosaurs and other Prehistoric Animals by Lee J. Ames (1977)
Draw it Dinosaurs by Patricia Walsh (2006)
I Can Draw Dinosaurs by Terry Longhurst (2003)
Stay Safe & Well
“Encouraging the Appreciation of Art and Education through the Inspiration of Dinosaurs”
Paul & Prehistoric Pals
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