Keep Exploring: The Marks on the Cave Wall
A Family Guide to Early Humans, Cave Art & Survival
What if you could step inside a cave thousands of years ago?
You might find paintings of animals, handprints on stone, tools made from rock and bone, and evidence of people who learned how to survive by paying very close attention to the world around them.
In this month’s adventure, Atlas and Luna travelled back to a time before written language, when stories could not simply be picked up from a bookshelf.
Stories had to be remembered, shared, painted, acted out and passed from one generation to the next.
So let’s keep exploring.
📚 Books to Read
I’d mix fiction, nonfiction, archaeology and Ice Age books rather than giving families 15 versions of “cave people painted animals”. There are only so many ways to draw a mammoth before everyone starts wondering where the dinosaurs are.
Early Humans & Prehistoric Life
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The Secret Cave: Discovering Lascaux by Emily Arnold McCully
A wonderful connection to the discovery of the famous Lascaux cave paintings. -
Adventures in the Ice Age by Linda Bailey
Great for imagining what daily life might have been like during the Ice Age. -
Lug: Dawn of the Ice Age by David Zeltser
A prehistoric adventure story that can complement Atlas and Luna’s adventure. -
Clan by Sigmund Brouwer
A Canadian middle-grade prehistoric adventure and especially fun for older readers. -
Lucy & Andy Neanderthal by Jeffrey Brown
A humorous graphic novel approach to prehistoric life that can appeal to reluctant readers. -
This Orq. (He Cave Boy) by David Elliott
A fun picture-book introduction to prehistoric life. -
Quennu and the Cave Bear by Marie Day
A prehistoric tale involving early humans and a cave bear. -
The First Dog by Jan Brett
A story connected to early humans and the beginnings of the relationship between people and dogs.
Cave Art & Archaeology
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Stone Age Boy by Satoshi Kitamura
A fantastic picture-book adventure into the Stone Age. -
Boy of the Painted Cave by Justin Denzel
A stronger choice for older elementary/middle-grade readers interested in prehistoric art. -
The Cave of Altamira by Robert Silverberg
A good choice for older children who want to explore the discovery of prehistoric cave art. -
Prehistoric Actual Size by Steve Jenkins
Great for understanding the enormous scale of prehistoric animals.
Nonfiction & Further Exploration
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DK Eyewitness: Early Humans
A visual reference book that works particularly well for children who love facts and pictures. - National Geographic Kids: Everything Ancient Egypt would not be my choice for this month. Save it for January when we get to Egypt. We don’t need to drag pyramids into every historical conversation like they’re the celebrity guest nobody invited.
- National Geographic Kids: Dinosaurs: Use this as an extension into prehistoric animals and extinction.
- The Story of the World, Volume 1: Ancient Times by Susan Wise Bauer. A useful homeschool companion for families who want to extend this into a broader history study.
🌎 Websites to Explore
1. Smithsonian Human Origins
Smithsonian Human Origins
This should probably be the #1 website we send families to.
Children can explore early humans, tools, fossils, migration and human development. The Smithsonian also has 3D prehistoric artefacts and a virtual Human Origins exhibit.
Try this: Have your child choose one artefact and write three things they can observe about it.
2. Smithsonian: Evolution & Creativity of Ancient Humans
Evolution and Creativity of Ancient Humans
This is almost ridiculously perfect for this month’s theme.
It includes activities about cave art, handprints, early humans, archaeology, fossils and human creativity.
3. Lascaux Cave
Lascaux Cave Virtual Experience
Explore the famous Lascaux cave and its prehistoric artwork.
The site includes a virtual visit, information about the cave’s setting, artwork and archaeological research. The paintings date back roughly 21,000 years.
Try this: Find three animals represented in the cave art and sketch one.
4. Smithsonian Learning Lab
Smithsonian Learning Lab
A giant collection of Smithsonian resources, images, videos and educational collections. This is especially useful for homeschool families who want to turn the topic into a larger unit study.
5. Smithsonian Archaeology Resources
Smithsonian Archaeology & Archives Resources
This one is particularly good for Atlas-aged children because it moves beyond “look at this cool cave!” and into how do we actually know what we know?
Children can learn how archaeologists use objects and evidence to reconstruct the past.
🏕️ Field Trip Ideas
And I would deliberately make these realistic, because “take your children to France and visit Lascaux” is technically a field trip suggestion, but so is “buy everyone a private island”. Neither is particularly useful.
1. Visit a Natural History Museum
Look for exhibits featuring:
- early humans
- fossils
- Ice Age animals
- stone tools
- archaeology
- human evolution
Mission: Find one object that an early human could have used. Sketch it and explain what you think it was for.
2. Visit a Cave or Rock Shelter
If you have a cave, canyon, rocky shelter or significant geological formation nearby, visit it.
Don’t touch or make marks on rock surfaces.
Instead, imagine:
Would this make a good shelter?
Have your children look for:
- protection from wind
- water sources
- animal tracks
- flat ground
- natural shelter
- visibility of the surrounding landscape
Then discuss why location would have mattered to early humans.
3. Archaeology Field Trip
Look for a local archaeology museum, heritage site, Indigenous cultural centre, archaeological dig open to the public, or museum programme.
The goal isn’t simply to see old objects.
Ask:
“What can this object tell us about the person who used it?”
That’s archaeology in action.
4. Make Your Own Ice Age Survival Expedition
This one can happen literally anywhere.
Head outside with:
- notebook
- pencil
- simple map
- water
- warm clothing
- binoculars if you have them
Pretend you’re searching for a place to establish a temporary camp.
Look for signs of:
- food
- water
- shelter
- animal activity
- natural resources
Record your observations.
This turns a walk into an observation and survival field study.
🎨 Cave Art & Prehistoric Crafts
Here’s where I’d really lean into the age progression.
🪨 [EASY] Family Cave Wall
Ages: 5+
You’ll need:
- brown paper or cardboard
- chalk
- charcoal
- crayons
- tape
Crumple the paper, flatten it and tear the edges to make it resemble a rough rock surface.
Then create animals, handprints and symbols.
Dim the lights and use a flashlight to illuminate the artwork.
The Smithsonian actually recommends a similar family cave-building and cave-art activity, including creating a homemade cave and using flashlight illumination.
Challenge:
Tell your family the story represented by your pictures without using words.
🖐️ [EASY] Handprint Through Time
Ages: 5+
Trace each family member’s hand.
Around each handprint, draw symbols representing:
- something you love
- something you’re afraid of
- something important to your family
- somewhere you’ve travelled
- something you want future generations to know
Then arrange everyone’s handprints together.
Big question:
What would you want someone 10,000 years from now to know about your family?
This connects beautifully to the idea that prehistoric people left behind their own marks.
🔥 [HARD] Make Prehistoric Pigments
Ages: 8+
Investigate how natural materials can produce different colours.
Try experimenting with:
- charcoal for black
- clay for red/brown
- crushed berries for purple/red
- turmeric for yellow
- chalk for white
Mix small amounts with water and test them on rough paper.
Then compare:
Which pigments are strongest? Which fade? Which stick to the surface best?
Talk about how prehistoric artists could have experimented with materials found in their environment.
🏹 [HARD] Build a Stone Age Tool Design
Ages: 9+
Don’t actually knap flint. Your fingers will thank me.
Instead, give children:
- clay
- cardboard
- sticks
- string
- smooth stones
Challenge them to design a tool that could help someone:
- cut
- scrape
- hunt
- sew
- carry
- prepare food
They must explain:
What problem does my tool solve?
This turns the craft into a little engineering challenge.
The Smithsonian has educational resources specifically exploring early human tool technology and how archaeologists interpret evidence from ancient tools.
🧠 [EXPERT] Become an Archaeologist
Ages: 11+
This is the one I’d give Atlas.
Create a fake archaeological site.
Hide several objects in a tray of sand, soil or shredded paper:
- stone
- bone-shaped object
- piece of pottery
- charcoal
- shell
- stick
- handmade tool
- fabric
- food remains
Give your child zero information about what happened there. Their job is to investigate. They should create a field notebook containing:
Observation: What do I actually see?
Evidence: What physical clues do I have?
Hypothesis: What do I think happened here?
Alternative Explanation: What else could have happened?
Confidence: How certain am I?
Then have them write a short archaeological report reconstructing the story of the site.
Important rule: They aren’t allowed to say “I know.” They have to say: “The evidence suggests…” That little distinction is HUGE.
You’re teaching them that history isn’t just memorizing dates. Historians and archaeologists work with incomplete evidence and build explanations from what remains.
And suddenly your 12-year-old is doing actual historical thinking instead of filling out another worksheet asking him to circle the mammoth. 😂
🔎 One More Family Challenge
Leave Your Own Mark
At the end of the month, turn off the lights. Build a blanket cave. Bring your September collector card inside. Use a flashlight. Have everyone tell one story without using written words.
The youngest child can draw. Older children can use symbols. Parents can try it too.
Then ask: “If someone found this picture thousands of years from now, what would they think our family was like?” That’s the question I would want families to remember from this entire adventure.
This Months Pintrest Board
https://pin.it/73nwEl5tT
Because the real lesson of The Marks on the Cave Wall isn’t simply that early humans painted animals. It’s that humans have always created, communicated, remembered, worked together and wondered about the world around them.
The tools change. The technology changes. The stories change. But some things about being human have been there from the beginning.