Snakes

SNAKE POEMS

	Douglas Florian’s lizards, frogs, and polliwogs (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2005) is a collection of 21 illustrated poems about reptiles and amphibians. Featured: the diamondback rattlesnake, cobra, and python. For ages 5-10.
	Practically everybody loves Shel’s Silverstein’s I’m Being Eaten by a Boa Constrictor. (Oh, gee/It’s up to my knee.)
	Put to music, it’s on Peter, Paul, and Mary’s 1990 CD Peter, Paul and Mommy.
	By the irrepressible Ogden Nash, The Python begins “The python has, and I fib no fibs/318 pairs of ribs…”
	Emily Dickinson’s poem A narrow fellow in the grass ends “But never met this fellow/Attended or alone/Without a tighter breathing,/And zero at the bone.”
	Read D.H. Lawrence’s poem “Snake” here.

PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES

	KidZone’s Snake Activities has printable snake books and worksheets, a snake life cycle sheet, snake puzzles and coloring pages, and a recipe for chocolate snakes.
	Make Rainbow Bubble Snakes. You’ll need plastic water bottles, old socks, duct tape, dish soap, and food coloring.
	What to do with those hopeless single socks? Make Sock Snakes.
	Make a Cup Snake.
	Make a Shape Snake with cut-out shapes.
	From Deep Space Sparkle, check out this wonderful project for making glittery Snakes in the Grass.
	From DLTK’s Crafts for Kids, Snake Activities has a list of cool snake crafts, including shape snakes, egg-carton snakes, fingerprint snakes, paper-chain snakes, and a boingy spiral snake.
	From Artists Helping Children, Snake Crafts for Kids include alphabet snakes, a snake tie (yes, tie; think Father’s Day), a crocheted snake, an origami snake, and even a pumpkin snake.
	Got bubble wrap? Make this terrific Bubble Wrap Snake.
	From eighteen25, particularly adorable painted TP Roll Snakes.
	From Dick Blick, see instructions for making a polymer clay Snake Basket.
	This Wooden Snakes Craft Kit has 12 ready-to-paint wiggly wooden snakes. All supplies included.
	Snakes and Ladders (or Chutes and Ladders) is a classic board game that originated in ancient India. (The aim: maneuver your game piece across the board, while being helped by ladders and hindered by snakes.) See the classic board game and the Snakes and Ladders app from Google Play. Or play for free at various sites online. (For example, see here.)
	Jan Sovak’s Snakes of the World Coloring Book (Dover Publications, 1995) has brief information and black-line, ready-to-color portraits of some 40 different snakes, among them the anaconda, king cobra, cottonmouth, puff adder, and garter snake.

AND DON’T LEAVE OUT…

	Ouroboros, the ancient symbol of a snake swallowing its own tail, represents the cycle of life.
	Snakes in Ancient Art Hiss-tory is a brief illustrated overview. Ideas for research projects for older kids?
	Check out M.C. Escher’s woodcut Snakes. (Count the snakes?)
	The famous Gadsden flag – named for its designer Christopher Gadsden – was created during the American Revolution and pictures a coiled rattlesnake with the motto “Don’t Tread on Me.” This article has interesting information on historical snake flags and snake symbolism.