We use lead pencils for our school work and coloured pencils for drawing awesome pictures!

But who invented the pencil?

Well the truth is no-one really knows. What they think happened is in 1500′s England, there was a big storm that blew over a tree. When the storm cleared, the villagers inspected the tree to discover a black substance known as graphite.

The graphite was perfect for marking everything, including sheep!

Pencils have come along way since then and now are made in factories.

The pencils begin as a big block of wood that is cut into lots of smaller lengths. The graphite is then inserted into the wood and the pencil ends up in your pencil case!

Did you know?

That the lead pencil isn’t made of lead? Before graphite was discovered people would use lead to mark different objects and the name has stuck to this day!

You will need:

• a printer to print out ‘Niall the Sheep’ outline
• a glue stick
• cotton wool
• colour pencils

How to Do it

Get your Mum or Dad or older brother or sister to print out the Niall the Sheep from Garth & Bev Colouring here:

• Nial the Sheep Colouring Sheet – click the link to download!

Next use your colouring in pencils to colour in Niall’s face and the surrounding grass and trees. When you are happy with your drawing you’re ready to move onto the next step.

It’s time to get out the glue stick! We want to add the cotton wool onto Niall’s body. We’re using cotton wool because it feels soft and fluffy – just like wool on a real sheep. Using the glue stick rub the glue into the area where Niall’s woollen coat would be. Then take out your cotton wool and stick it onto the glue.

In a few minutes it will be dry and you’ll have a great drawing of Niall the Sheep with with cotton wool coat!