Talking Pictures for Children 

Talking Pictures is an online resource for children and their adults based on artwork from the Crawford Art Gallery Collection. We will share creative prompts for happy talk and play every Wednesday.

You can download an Irish language version of this page in PDF format here.

About the artwork:

Robert Gibbings was an Irish artist and an explorer, he made drawings to tell the story of his travels. Robert sailed down a river called the River Wye, in England, and when he returned home, he made woodblock prints to illustrate his own books. Robert described small details and the creatures he noticed along the way; a busy black beetle, a feather and some twisty string. To make these prints he carved into a block of wood using a sharp tool. The woodblock was then covered with ink and pressed onto paper in a printing press.

Insects may seem strange, but they are an important part of our world. They spread pollen from one plant to another, this helps plants, flowers, fruit and vegetables to grow. They also help us to clean-up by gobbling up fallen leaves, old wood and sometimes each other! Three out of every four creatures on the Earth is an insect and scientists have found over 800,000 species, they think that there may be another nine or ten million species yet to be discovered!

Guess who?

Can you guess what this bug is?
It is the size of your smallest fingernail?
It has black spots It has a red body.
It has two antennae.
It has six legs.
It can fly high in the sky.

It is a lady bug!
Lady bugs are a type of beetle.

Let's Draw

Do you like bugs?
Do you think that spiders are spooky or silly?
Can you draw your favourite bug?
How many legs does it have?
Insects have six legs; spiders have eight legs and millipedes have 30 legs or more!
Does your bug have whizzy wings, or are they very delicate?
Beetles have two pairs of wings; the first pair make a hard shield for the soft flying-wings folded up underneath!
Insects come in all shapes and sizes, what colour is your bug, does it have patterns, is it rough, smooth, hard, furry, slimey!
Beetles do not have good eyesight, so they use sound and smells to find their way.
Does your bug have antennae to feel and smell with?

Let's Play

Where does your bug live?
Can you draw their home?
Inside a peach, under a leaf, inside a shell, deep in the soil, in a bug hotel, in a flower patch, in your home, in the playground or a pretty garden?
What does your bug eat?
(Ask a grown up) Go outside to explore and collect bug-food for a bug-picnic.
Can you find any leaves, petals, moss, twigs, weeds, small feathers, seeds, pinecones, chestnuts?
Now mix up a tasty salad for our bug friends!

We would love to hear your stories and artworks inspired by Talking Pictures! Share them with us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter using the #crawfordartgalleryhomelife.

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