Dragons

DRAGON ACTIVITIES

	Enchanted Learning’s Dragons has instructions for making a dancing paper dragon toy, coloring pages, and information about such dragon-related topics as Komodo dragons, the constellation Draco, dinosaur fossils, the flag of Wales, and Sir Francis (“the Dragon”) Drake.
	See these video instructions for making a gorgeous Chinese dragon puppet.
	From Red Ted Art, check out this selection of elementary-level Dragon Crafts, including dragon puppets and a dragon hat.
	Make a flying paper-plate dragon.
	Instructions for several kinds of gorgeous dragon eggs.
	Seven Dragons is a domino-like card game in which players compete to connect the seven panels representing their color-coded dragon (red, gold, green, blue, or black). The cards are illustrated with paintings by fantasy artist Larry Elmore. For 2-5 players ages 6 and up.
	We started playing the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons with our kids when they were 5, 7, and 8 – and found, just like the website says, that it was a wonderful experience of imaginative, shared storytelling and social interaction.  (It’s also good for geometry, since sooner or later you have to learn the names for all those polyhedral dice.)
	Best for beginners is the Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set.
	Dragon Cave is an online interactive adventure in which kids find and hatch a dragon egg and then raise a dragon.
	With David Kawami’s Cut & Assemble Paper Dragons That Fly (Dover Publications, 1987), plus scissors, paper clips, glue, and a straight edge, kids can made eight colorful (flying) paper dragon models. $6.95.
	Ed Emberley’s Drawing Book of Animals (Little, Brown, 2006) uses step-by-step instructions and a library of simple shapes to show kids how to draw dozens of animals, among them a wonderful dragon. For ages 7 and up.
	How to Draw Dragons is a humorous tutorial on how to draw a particularly adorable dragon (Cedric) by award-winning author/illustrator Emily Gravett.
	Sandra Staples’s 160-page Drawing Dragons (“Learn to Create Fantastic Fire-Breathing Dragons!” (Ulysses Press, 2008) has detailed instructions for making pencil drawings of truly wonderful (and elaborate) dragons. For ages 10 and up.
	Build a 3-D Chinese dragon from a Woodcraft construction kit. The dragon, assembled, is about a foot long, and consists of 62 interlocking pieces. All the pieces are pre-cut; no glue or tools needed.

(Mostly) Real Dragons

	From the American Museum of Natural History, Mythic Creatures has information about dragons and other mythical creatures, and accounts of the (real) living animals or fossils that may have inspired their stories. Included at the site are educational resources, projects for kids, and illustrations, video clips, and podcasts.
	Pamela Valdez’s Joan Proctor, Dragon Doctor (Knopf, 2018) is a picture-book biography of the famous herpetologist, Curator of Reptiles at the British Museum, who brought her pet Komodo dragon to tea parties. For ages 4-8.
	Marty Crump’s Mysteries of the Komodo Dragon (Boyds Mills Press, 2010) is a fascinating 40-page account of the world’s largest lizard, the ten-foot-long Indonesian Komodo dragon, whose deadly saliva (“dragon drool”) is a current subject of scientific research. Illustrated with maps and color photographs. For ages 8-13.
	The scoop on Komodo Dragons (the national animal of Indonesia).
	Sheila Cole’s The Dragon in the Cliffs (Backinprint, 2005) is a novel based on the life of fossil-hunter Mary Anning, who began her career with the discovery of an ichthyosaur skeleton in a cliff along the beach in 1811, when she was just 13. For ages 10 and up.
	For more on Mary Anning and her many discoveries, plus a book list, see Mary Anning: How a Poor British Carpenter’s Daughter Became the Greatest Fossil Hunter Ever Known.
	From Biologica, Dragon Genetics is a lesson plan in which kids explore the difference between genotype and phenotype with dragons.