Our longtime fan Ajax L. told us that October is also Inktober. The challenge is to draw an ink drawing every day this month. Drawing in ink isn’t new: the oldest cave paintings were drawn over 40,000 years ago. Only about 5,000 years ago did people start using ink to write; before then, they used ink only to draw people, animals, and the natural world. Since it’s Inktober, try drawing with as many colors of ink as you can!
Wee ones: When you draw with a pen, what’s your favorite color to use? See if you can spot 4 things in your room in that color.
Little kids: If you draw a crazy zebra with a blue stripe, then a black stripe, then a red one, then blue to start over, what 3 stripes come after that blue one? Bonus: How many more stripes do you need after all those to have 10 in total?
Big kids: If cavemen started drawing 40,000 years ago and writing 5,000 years ago, for how many years did they just draw? Bonus: If instead of drawing daily, every 3 days starting Oct. 3 you draw 4 ink drawings at once, how many will you draw in Inktober?
The sky’s the limit: If you draw a picture every 5th day starting on a Monday, will you ever draw on a Wednesday? Why or why not?
Answers:
Wee ones: Different for everyone…find 4 things in your favorite ink color.
Little kids: Black, then red, then blue again. Bonus: 3 more stripes, since you have 7 already.
Big kids: 35,000 years. Bonus: 40 pictures, since you’ll draw 10 sets ending on Oct. 30.
The sky’s the limit: Yes. You’ll draw on Mon, then Sat, Thurs, Tues, Sun, Fri, Weds, and back to Mon. In fact, you’ll draw at some point on every day of the week. Because 7 isn’t divisible by any numbers other than 7, any number that isn’t 7 or a multiple of it will cycle you onto every weekday.
