Intriguing Iguanas

Why

Celebrate shimmering rainforest reptiles! Crayola Metallic Colored Pencils bring out the texture and beauty of these intelligent creatures.


Steps

1. Iguanas are beautiful reptiles that live in the rainforest and a few other warm places. They are popular pets because of their intelligence and beauty. Iguana coloration ranges from light green at birth to gray-green during adulthood. Adults also have striped sides and tails, and males often have additional orange coloration.

2. One of the most noticeable things about iguanas is the variety of textures found on their bodies. Their skin is covered with bead-like scales, which make them tough and waterproof. They also have long, strong toes, which enable them to grasp branches in the canopies of tall trees. Adult iguanas can reach a length of 6 feet (1.8 m), with most of that length in their tails.

3. Find a picture of an adult iguana. To make your own beautifully textured iguana drawing, begin by collecting several household objects with interesting, beaded textures, such as strainers or baskets.

4. On dark construction paper, use a Crayola Metallic Colored Pencil to outline a large iguana. Place the outline over a closely-spaced textured object. Color with a green Metallic Colored Pencil to give your iguana an overall, fine texture.

5. Use a darker Metallic Colored Pencil to texture the belly and lower edges of the iguana, using a larger-spaced textural object under your paper. This will give your iguana a shadowed look. Use the same larger texture to add a few details in key places.

6. Use lighter colored Metallic Colored Pencils to draw highlights on areas such as the dorsal fringe (the spiky area on the iguana's back) and the toes. Use a darker colored Metallic Colored Pencil to draw in stripes on the tail and belly. Cut out your iguana with Crayola Scissors.

7. Tear irregular pieces of green paper to create a leafy branch that you might find in a rainforest. Use a Crayola Glue Stick to attach the leaves to another sheet of paper.

8. Draw branches holding up the leaves. Glue your iguana to its leafy canopy.

Safety Guidelines

Adult supervision is required for any arts & crafts project.

Scissors—ATTENTION: The cutting edges of scissors are sharp and care should be taken whenever cutting or handling. Blunt-tip scissors should be used only by children 4 years and older. Pointed-tip scissors should be used only by children 6 years and older.

Related Crafts

Crafts

 

Supplies

crayola supplies
  • Metallic Colored Pencils
  • Glue Sticks
  • Blunt-Tip Scissors
  • Construction Paper
household supplies
  • textured items, such as sandpaper, screen, paper doilies, rubber sink mat
  • colored paper

Where & When

"The kids learned about our pet iguana's natural habitat. They really noticed its markings, too!"
Raphaela G., home-school parent of 7- and 9-year-olds.

"Some student volunteers were scared of iguanas---until they learned about them with this project!"
Mitchel T., SPCA volunteer coordinator.


Interesting Info

Iguanas are excellent swimmers when they need to be, even though they spend most of their time on land.