DLTK's Crafts for Kids
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I originally made this craft (the one in the photo) for Egypt (thus the pyramids).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.

Materials:

• piece of coarse sandpaper (we used a 4inch x 6inch (ish) piece, but you could use whatever size you like)
• crayola crayons (just your ordinary crayons).
• Optional:  Instead of sand paper, you could draw on a large rock instead...  I personally prefer the sand paper.

Instructions:

• Draw an African scene on the sandpaper with crayons
• Don't worry if the images are very basic.  That's what cave drawings look like.
• Press 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: 

Print friendly version of these instructions