Get into the Season with Drawing Spooky Chibi

I can’t honestly call this a book review because I wrote this book, so of course I think it’s great. But if you’ve got a kiddo who likes to draw, Drawing Spooky Chibi is a fun book to help them learn to draw cute versions of creepy creatures.

This is the second time I’ve teamed up with Canadian illustrator Tessa Creative Art to produce a book full of simple, fun and cute creations for kids to draw. I think books like these are a great way to encourage kids who like to draw but might not always know what they want to draw. And this time of year they’d make super cute decorations for the house, for Halloween cards or for the classroom.

The instructions for each creature are given step by step in words and line drawings, and they’re broken down into simple steps that kids and adults alike can draw. There’s a range of creepy cute creatures here, including:

ghost
skeleton
zombie
vampire
mummy
Frankenstein’s monster
Bride of Frankenstein
onryo
headless horseman
banshee
witch
wizard
killer clown
black cat
bat
spider
scarecrow
scary doll
cthulhu
werewold
devil
grim reaper
Baphomet
Cerberus
goblin
swamp monster

I’m not sure I can pick favorites, but the little cthulhu is super cute (you can find it in the top left corner of the cover, which gives you a good look at a few of the designs).

Doing these books has been so fun, and not something I ever would have expected because I’m not much good at drawing (I can write instructions, though, and my daughter, who is both a teen and an artist, was a great technical consultant.)

The other book in this series that I co-wrote is called Drawing Fantasy Chibi, which is similar in style but features more creatures from mythology such as a centaur, mermaid, fairy and more.

Fall is a great time to learn about and observe the birds in your area, but you can do this any time of year. Whether you’re watching from a backyard or a playground, you’re sure to find a few birds and can learn about the birds that are native to your region in any case.

If you do see birds at home or where your classroom is, the Merlin app is a great one (if your school allows phones). If you don’t already know it, it listens to the sounds around you and can identify birds based on their calls. Very cool and a reason for kids to be quiet while you’re observing nature. Having an old fashioned paper guidebook to the birds where you live is also a great idea because kids can use it to look up birds and it’s just fun to have in the science center.

The specific birds involved in your learning will vary depending on where you live, but here are some bird activities you can do with your kids at home or in the classroom.

Natural Beach Living set up a simple bird nature study center that includes bird books and feathers in front of a big window. There are also some printables you’ll find links to in this post including three part cards and bird observation charts for birds local to them and a bird unit study with lots of great printables (this is a paid resource).

Adventure in a Box has a printable birds of the world bingo game, which might inspire you to learn more about some of the 48 different birds included, from emu to snowy owl, grackle to Atlantic puffin.

If you’re American you’ll enjoy these state bird coloring pages from Flanders Family Home Life. If I can count, only 48 states are listed (which I wouldn’t have noticed except Arkansas isn’t there; it’s one of many whose state bird is the mockingbird). Print out all of them or just your home state, or give each child a bird to research and color to do a presentation in the classroom.

And you can learn more about the different types of bird nests and see if you can observe any of them on a nature walk with this guide to bird nests from Fun Mom Printables on Etsy. It includes information about eight types of nests with drawings and three part cards.

Have you read?

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