Make Map Creatures!
Maps get out of date pretty quickly as new roads are built and new cities and towns come to life. Many artists use old maps in their creations. Some paint with watercolors over the map, allowing the text and lines to show through to give texture and dimension. Others fold maps, cut them up, use them in sculpture – the possibilities are amazing!
Have some fun with old, outdated maps and see what kind of creatures you can make! They can be real or fanciful – or a combination of both.
What you need:
One or more pages from an old map or atlas (ask your parents to help you find some)
Cardstock or scrapbook paper for the background
Assorted scrap paper
Black marker
Scissors
Glue stick
Optional: Paint, colored pencils, crayons
What you do:
- Look at the map page and try to find animal shapes in it. Do you see a head, a tail? Turn it around and view it from different angles. Look at where the roads and highways meet, where the lakes and mountains and cities lay – is there an eye or an ear?
- When you find a shape you like, use the black marker to outline it.
- Cut out the shape and place it on the cardstock background.
- Cut and tear assorted scraps of paper to enhance the background or make a scene. When you are satisfied, glue everything down.
- Optional: Use paints, colored pencils, and crayons to add more enhancements to the creature and the background scene. We used white paint to make snow-topped mountains and colored pencils to add shading.
Is your creature realistic or fanciful? Whichever it is, give it a name and hang it up so everyone can admire it!
