Rattlesnake Craft for Kids

When you live in rattlesnake country, you learn early on how to recognize the characteristics of a venomous snake. In California, the only venomous snakes we have are rattlers, so the most obvious sign that a snake is venomous here is a rattle. That said, rattles can break off. Or, in the case of a baby, there's only a single non-rattly rattle at the end of their tiny tails. Of course, the intact, adult-sized rattle end of a snake can be hidden from your view. When you're looking at the business end of a snake, a wide triangular head is a good indication that you should get away. 

I’ve seen (and made) many snake crafts during my time as a craft blogger, but never one that is specifically a rattlesnake. Since we're about to welcome in the Year of the Snake, I thought it would be the perfect time to add a rattlesnake to my collection of reptile crafts. Interestingly, both Arizona and West Virginia have named a rattlesnake species as its official State Reptile. Though much more common in the Southwest, rattlesnakes are found throughout the continental United States, so go ahead and make this no matter where you live. Affiliate links below. 

Rattlesnake Craft for Kids

Materials: 

• chipboard
• scissors
• craft glue
• colored pencil (brown, black)
• inks (earth tones: forest green, brown, black, cream)
• blending brushes

Steps: 

Starting at the center of the chipboard, draw a spiral that is the size you want your finished rattlesnake to be. Draw a triangle-shaped head at the end of the spiral. (Just like for this craft, but with a different head shape.)

Cut out the snake’s head, then continue following the spiral with your scissors. When you get to the inside of the spiral, taper the end. This is where you'll be gluing the rattles. 

Use the scraps to make rattles. Cut a tapered piece of chipboard. The longer you cut it, the more rattles you can have. (A rattlesnake typically has anywhere from 1-13 rattles, depending on how many times its shed and whether any have broken off.) Snip the piece you cut at 1/2" intervals, then glue it back together, overlapping each rattle on top of the previous one.

Use the scraps to cut a forked tongue and two eyes (which aren't in the photo below).  

Use a brown colored pencil to draw scales on the snake. No need to be fancy - just diagonal lines in opposite directions in order to give the illusion of scales. (Notice that I updated my rattle?)

Put the snake on a piece of newspaper or other protective surface, then add ink. I used large blending brushes to give the whole snake a brown and green background, then darkened the tail. Then I used the mini blending brushes to add the stripes. I used the timber rattlesnake as inspiration, but you can customize yours however you want. 

Glue the tongue beneath the head, the eyes on the head, and the rattle on the end of the tail. Bend the chipboard gently so that the rattle is raised up a bit. Use a black colored pencil to add pupils to the eyes and two nostrils on either side of the forked tongue.