Let your students make cave art on their own rocks. This is suitable for third-graders because it requires some skill and knowledge while also encouraging creativity. Show them examples of Stone Age caves and the drawings inside, and then let them create their own drawings on some large rocks using black paint. Display the painted rocks in your classroom or outside. You can also send students home with instructions to create a Stone Age cave painting on their own and to bring their rocks in to share with the class.
Show your students pictures of real cave paintings and then send them home with a packet of some pictures. Have them write a page about the story they think is being portrayed in each picture. Choose pictures that are easy for third-graders to interpret but that also give them freedom to interpret the story.
Some Stone Age cave drawings have meaning attached to the shapes of the figures that are drawn, so teach your students about this. Spend some time making sure they understand why different figures were used and what they represented. Then have your students go home and create their own pictures and stories. Give them an example of a story that was typically told and how the pictures depicted the story.
Depending on where the cave paintings are from, different animals are exhibited. Show your students the cave paintings and have them identify the animals that are in the various paintings. Tell them where they are from, and then have them locate the caves on a map. This teaches them identification, significance and geography at the same time. In third grade, students are learning about map keys and how to read them, so this is a perfect opportunity to combine multiple subjects.