NGV Kids Activity Book - National Gallery of Victoria

Tiny Animals
A tiny painted dragon fly and
a cricket on a snuff bottle.
Look closely and find some more insects.
Snuff bottles
were decorated
in lots of
different ways.
Sometimes the
picture was
even painted
on the inside!
A cicada sitting on a stalk
of grass in a painting.
Draw an insect on
this snuff bottle.
I am a cricket.
I am an insect
and I am tiny.
Insects have
6 legs and usually
have 4 wings.
Can you find these insects
in a big painting?
In China and Japan
people keep crickets as
pets because they sing so
beautifully. They keep them
in special little cages.
All works collection National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne unless otherwise noted. clockwise from top left: CHINESE Snuff bottle Qing dynasty
(19th century) China (detail), porcelain, glass, ivory, cork, (a–b) 8.7 x 8.2 x 3.5 cm (overall). Gift of Miss D. Gibb, 1964. TING Yen Yung Chinese
1905–78, Cicada from the Birds and flowers album 1975 China (detail), album: ink and watercolour on paper, 16 leaves, cardboard and silk
cover, glued binding, 33.3 x 23.0 cm (image); 33.5 x 23.0 x 3.2 cm (closed); 33.5 x 45.8 x 2.0 cm (open). Purchased, 1975. © TING Yen Yung.
Hougansengen Japanese, active (19th century) Hannya the witch (19th century) Japan (details), pigments on silk, 69.8 x 122.0 cm (image),
Accessioned, 1887.
I am a dragon.
I am an extraordinary
animal. I can make
myself very
big or very small.
Extraordinary Animals
Extraordinary animals are
often made up of parts from
different animals.
Dragons have
• the ears of an ox
• the scales of a fish
• the horns of a deer
• the claws of an eagle
• the paws of a tiger
• the neck of a snake
• the head of a camel.
There are many
ways to make a
dragon - they can
be big, carved
from stone or they
can be small and
painted in a bowl.
Find more ways to
make a dragon.
Draw your own extraordinary animal made of parts from different animals.
Dragons bring good luck
and wonderful rain.
right: CHINESE Plate 1899 Jingdezhen,
Jiangxi province, South-east China,
porcelain, gilt, enamel, 4.1 x 23.6 cm
diameter. Gift of Miss Biddy Allen, 1967.
Fu dogs are also extraordinary
animals; they are part dog and
part lion.
Did you see the Fu dogs
protecting the animals in here?