9 Meaningful Native American Crafts for Kids as told by a Native Person. Fun Crafts, Books & Resources to explore Native Culture without cultural appropriation
If you're like me, teaching social studies is near and dear to your heart. In this post you will find a few ideas about creating meaningful projects in the classroom to help your students understand some Native American history. When creating the projects I've kept in mind time, money and skill level. Native Americans created pictures on rocks to record their tribal history. These pictures could be done by drawing, painting or carving into the rock. The southwestern United States contains the largest concentration of rocks used by Native Americans to record their tribal history. You might see pictures like buffalo, horses, deer or hunting on these rocks. When teaching students about this tradition you could do a couple of projects that are quick and meaningful. Consider giving your students rocks with a flat surface and asking them to record part of their history on the rock. That may contain a car for transportation, food or something important to their everyday life. You could also have them research cave drawing and recreate a picture on the rock and explain it in writing. The rocks above were drawn on with sharpie marker and it took about 2 minutes. Animal hides have been used by Native Americans for several purposeful reasons. They were used for practical reasons like clothing, travel and shelter. Hides were also used for spiritual reasons like healing the sick and promoting healthy moms. Some tribes recorded their history on the hides with paintings. When teaching students about this tradition you could give them brown paper bags, construction paper or dye paper a brown hue. Have students research the history behind hides and recreate something using the paper as a hide. The paper above was stained with water and a bit of brown paint in the water. It took 2 minutes to paint it. You could allow it to dry over night. It took 5 minutes to create the drawings. The popular dreamcatcher was originally created by the Ojibwe. It was created to catch everything bad or evil and protect infants. The dreamcatcher was hung on the infant's cradle or carrier. Spiritual or sacred items could be used when weaving the web in the dreamcatcher. Such items might be feathers, beads, bones and hide. Consider having students research dream catchers and creating one of their own with paper plates, string and other items that you have in the classroom. The design intricacy could be chosen based on the age of your students. I numbered the holes for students which allowed them to string it in about 10 minutes. Click here to find a pattern for the holes and numbers. Native American jewelry has long been admired for it's beauty and meaning. This jewelry can be include necklaces, earrings, bracelets, rings, pins, belts, etc. While jewelry is different and specific to each region and tribe, many times designs are borrowed and used across areas. Some materials used to create necklaces were bone and stone. Have your students research the significance behind this jewelry and create a necklace of their own. Consider having your students paint pasta like bones/stones and creating a necklace of their own. We dropped a little bit of paint in a paper Dixie cup and had students swish the pasta around. After the paint we laid the pasta out to dry. If you are in need of reading passages, lessons and materials to teach your students about the different Native American Regions check out the unit below by clicking on the picture. Find another detailed post about teaching Native American History here:
Learn about the Native American people's tradition and the importance of listening. Step-by-step tutorial on how to make your own Talking Stick with your kids.
Crafts, like these Native American crafts for kids, are a simple way to get kids interested in learning more about different cultures. Pair these kids American Indian crafts with a history lesson or book.
If you're like me, teaching social studies is near and dear to your heart. In this post you will find a few ideas about creating meaningful projects in the classroom to help your students understand some Native American history. When creating the projects I've kept in mind time, money and skill level. Native Americans created pictures on rocks to record their tribal history. These pictures could be done by drawing, painting or carving into the rock. The southwestern United States contains the largest concentration of rocks used by Native Americans to record their tribal history. You might see pictures like buffalo, horses, deer or hunting on these rocks. When teaching students about this tradition you could do a couple of projects that are quick and meaningful. Consider giving your students rocks with a flat surface and asking them to record part of their history on the rock. That may contain a car for transportation, food or something important to their everyday life. You could also have them research cave drawing and recreate a picture on the rock and explain it in writing. The rocks above were drawn on with sharpie marker and it took about 2 minutes. Animal hides have been used by Native Americans for several purposeful reasons. They were used for practical reasons like clothing, travel and shelter. Hides were also used for spiritual reasons like healing the sick and promoting healthy moms. Some tribes recorded their history on the hides with paintings. When teaching students about this tradition you could give them brown paper bags, construction paper or dye paper a brown hue. Have students research the history behind hides and recreate something using the paper as a hide. The paper above was stained with water and a bit of brown paint in the water. It took 2 minutes to paint it. You could allow it to dry over night. It took 5 minutes to create the drawings. The popular dreamcatcher was originally created by the Ojibwe. It was created to catch everything bad or evil and protect infants. The dreamcatcher was hung on the infant's cradle or carrier. Spiritual or sacred items could be used when weaving the web in the dreamcatcher. Such items might be feathers, beads, bones and hide. Consider having students research dream catchers and creating one of their own with paper plates, string and other items that you have in the classroom. The design intricacy could be chosen based on the age of your students. I numbered the holes for students which allowed them to string it in about 10 minutes. Click here to find a pattern for the holes and numbers. Native American jewelry has long been admired for it's beauty and meaning. This jewelry can be include necklaces, earrings, bracelets, rings, pins, belts, etc. While jewelry is different and specific to each region and tribe, many times designs are borrowed and used across areas. Some materials used to create necklaces were bone and stone. Have your students research the significance behind this jewelry and create a necklace of their own. Consider having your students paint pasta like bones/stones and creating a necklace of their own. We dropped a little bit of paint in a paper Dixie cup and had students swish the pasta around. After the paint we laid the pasta out to dry. If you are in need of reading passages, lessons and materials to teach your students about the different Native American Regions check out the unit below by clicking on the picture. Find another detailed post about teaching Native American History here:
15 meaningful crafts and 5 inspiring stories that teach toddlers and preschoolers about Native American heritage. Perfect for the November!
We spent this past week learning about Native Americans. Our centers were all Indian themed. We enjoyed a lot of Native American tales and did some fun art jobs to go along with the stories. We also worked on a study of different tribes and the different types of homes they made. We are creating a book of what we learn about Native Americans. At this center they listened to the book I Can Read About Indians and then worked on drawing Indians in different setting and writing facts that they learned. They put Indian symbols in ABC order and sorted Indian cards with different r clusters to go with a skill in reading. They were introduced to using a ruler to measure to the nearest inch. They measured different Native American symbols. Another center they unscramble words to make a complete sentence about Indians and they worked on number order to 75 by putting sets in order from least to greatest. These are 3 of the legends that we read this week. In the story Raven we learned how the light was put in the sky. The Legend of the Bluebonnet taught us about making sacrifices and not being selfish. The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush taught us that everyone is different and has a special gift to share with others. They loved this art job where we made the Indian Paintbrushes. We also made Indian headbands and collected our feathers for good behavior. Here are our Indian Princesses and Indian Warriors.
Third son had a terrible dream last night. It didn't help that he fell out of bed (which I hadn't heard but was described by my first son as "something crashed into the house--it made the whole house shake!" A few minutes later I heard the little guy crying and went in & located him (still on the floor). He was shaking and crying and still dreaming away. Man, that's tough! $1 for the pony beads at the Dollar Store and $2 for feathers- the rest of the supplies I had on hand. What a nice and easy craft! So today, we made a super simple dream catcher to hang above his bed to catch all of his bad dreams. This is a lovely craft to do as part of a summer camp, Native American craft session or part of the library's summer reading program (our local library's theme this summer is "Dream Big!"). Well here's the super simple dream catcher and may all of your dreams be pleasant! Paper Plate Dream Catcher Supplies Needed: One paper plate Scissors Hole punch Yarn (four 12" sections and one 48" section) Clear tape Pony beads Feathers (ours were about 3 1/2-4" long) Markers Directions: 1. Cut a 5" (or so) circle from the center of the paper plate, leaving the outer rim of the plate intact. 2. Use the hole punch to make a series of holes every inch or so around the inner edge of the ring. 3. Use markers to decorate the ring with patterns and images as desired. 4. Weave the 48" piece of yarn through the holes in the inner edge of the ring going across the ring to create a web for the bad dreams to get caught in. This is the fun part--even young children can relax and weave this inner section. The funkier, the better! We secured the beginning and ends of our yarn to the back of the ring with clear tape. 5. Use the hole punch to create a single hole at the top of the ring to hang the dream catcher. Make a loop from one of the 12" long strands of yarn, run it through the hole and knot it to secure. If you like, you can string a couple of pony beads onto the hanging loop to add some color. 6. Use the hole punch to create three holes about an inch apart along the bottom edge of the dream catcher. Feed the remaining 12" strands of yarn through the holes and double knot to secure. Feed pony beads onto the yarn coming from each hole. Knot and then use clear tape to attach a feather to the bottom of each strand. Trim excess yarn with scissors. Repeat to make three strands of beads with feathers coming off the bottom of the dream catcher. I made the center stand slightly longer than the other two. 7. Hang above your bed to catch all of those bad dreams! Nighty-night!
9 Meaningful Native American Crafts for Kids as told by a Native Person. Fun Crafts, Books & Resources to explore Native Culture without cultural appropriation
We have begun our Native American lesson in Social Studies. A visit to the Library yielded this fun DVD, American Cultures for Children. This particular DVD is geared to K-4 but I thought it woul…
Crafts are a great way to introduce students to the history of the country's Native American population. Projects ideas include drums, dream catchers, medicine bags, and more.
5th grade artists are learning about Native American life and culture in their classrooms. We added to this by learning about their art as well. Below are two links to slide shows that we used. Download Native American Overview Slide Show Here Download Native American Dream Catchers Slide Show Here We learned about why Native Americans use Dream Catchers - to catch the good dreams and let the bad dreams evaporate with the morning dew. We created our own dreamcatchers out of paper plates, yarn, beads and feathers. Learning Goals: Students will be able to discuss why Native Americans used Dream Catchers Students will use Native American pictographs and traditional designs to decorate the rim of their dream catcher Students will create their own dream catcher and weave string for the inside of the design
In honor of Native American Heritage Month, get to know the Mi'kmaq culture and the art of porcupine quill work with a craft for kids.
Crafts are a great way to introduce students to the history of the country's Native American population. Projects ideas include drums, dream catchers, medicine bags, and more.
Crafts are a great way to introduce students to the history of the country's Native American population. Projects ideas include drums, dream catchers, medicine bags, and more.
Native American Heritage Month is in November and a great history lesson for kids. Get Native American lesson plans, American Indian arts and crafts including totem pole craft ideas and more cultural ideas for the month. We have teaching resources on history of Native Americans (American Indians history) and present-day Native American cultures. Perfect for November teaching resources for Thanksgiving, too!
9 Meaningful Native American Crafts for Kids as told by a Native Person. Fun Crafts, Books & Resources to explore Native Culture without cultural appropriation
This is a project that I just can't quit. I've been doing it for several years now and the work just keeps getting better every year. Sometimes I wonder if readers get bored with seeing some of the same projects each year. Looking at these totems, who could get bored? One of the things I like best about this lesson is that it's hard. It's really hard for some kids. Good. The most difficult aspect of the lesson is drawing an animal in such a way that it looks like it has been carved into a totem pole. Negative space is essentially nonexistent. I tell my students that they need to use about 98% of their paper. It really forces students to entirely re-think the way they have drawn animals for their entire lives. It makes them learn! I've been dealing with combined classes with 4th grade this year and I was initially concerned that it would negatively impact the quality of student work. For this project, it absolutely didn't. Students have produced more high level work this year than any previous year. The stress of teaching 34 kids at once has apparently paid off. Enjoy the work! Download my lesson plan! Wow.
My students completed a Pueblo building activity as a unit wrap-up for our study of the Native Americans in the Southwest. They used one centimeter grid paper to cut out a pattern that folded into a box shape. Students added … Continue reading →
As a culminating activity for our Native American unit, students were asked to create a shoebox diorama. Students were expected to show the tribe that they chose (Powhatan, Lakota, or Pueblo), along with that tribe's region, habitat, food, climate, occupation, and method of transportation. Students were also expected to write a brief paragraph that summarized all that went into their diorama. To say that I was impressed would be an understatement. What walked through my door on the diorama due date (or even before) was quite a sight! The time and effort that went into these projects was amazing. It is clear to me that the students invested not only time, but a great deal of thought and effort as well. I commend all of them for the hard work they did! If you didn't get a chance to swing by the second grade hall and see these dioramas yourself, have no fear! Below you can see an up close and personal shot of each one. ENJOY! Jason - Pueblo Abby - Powhatan Myles - Pueblo Brennan - Powhatan Jackson - Pueblo Alex - Pueblo Sthefany - Pueblo Kalani - Pueblo Makala - Pueblo Kenia - Pueblo Mason - Lakota David - Lakota Leeya - Lakota Cabell - Pueblo Breelan - Powhatan Wyatt - Pueblo Aidan - Pueblo Jillian - Lakota Sasha - Lakota Andrew - Powhatan
Crafts, like these Native American crafts for kids, are a simple way to get kids interested in learning more about different cultures. Pair these kids American Indian crafts with a history lesson or book.
Art to Remember is scheduled to ship out to Bradley this Monday, November 18th and we should receive all the art by that Wednesday. My goal is to have all students bring home their keepsakes by Tuesday, November 26th. Kindergarten students created a mixed media art project this week to celebrate Native American Heritage month. The tepees were made with construction paper, markers, and Popsicle sticks and the backgrounds were painted. 1st grade students are creating 3d tepees and will be completing them soon. We are using brown lunch bags to create the tepees. 2nd grade students also created art to celebrate Native American Heritage month. This project was a mixed media project. We used brown butcher paper, markers, construction paper, and beans. The main focus of this lesson was on symbols. We discussed how Native American Indians drew pictures to tell stories. 2nd graders also made these very cool looking birch trees. We used a technique called masking and used watercolor paint. We added tree shadows to add a nice finishing touch. Students had the choice of either a blue sky or a sunset sky. These birch tree forest turned out wonderful! 3rd graders had fun being "mad scientist" and creatied their own science lab. First we drew our science labs and then painted them... but in a different way. Students learned a new technique - blowing on wet paint. This technique gave the appearance of explosions and helped to make their science labs look as tho a real mad scientist had created it. 4th grade students are finishing their Leaf project and should have them completed by next week. 5th graders are working on different projects at this time. I've learned that all my classes work at different speeds and trying to keep them all on the same schedule is impossible. My goal was to have all students start on their "Fall Harvest" art last week, but we still have many students working on completing their Modigliani self portrait. Hopefully by the first few weeks of December, they will all be caught up and working on the same project. For those students who have started on their "Fall Harvest" art, they are half was complete.
I've done a unit on native Americans with k-2 this year and students have enjoyed learning about the culture. We read the book The Legen...
This blog post outlines Native American activities to teach in the classroom. There are read alouds, technology activities, and more!
❤️Looking for fun, hands-on craft activities to celebrate Native American Heritage or Indigenous People? This bundle, with differentiated Native American craft activities (totem pole writing craft, teepee writing craft, buffalo hide art writing craft), is the perfect way for your students to learn about, discuss, and celebrate Native American culture, while developing social studies knowledge, literacy, fine motor, and art skills! ................................................................................................................................................. ✏️Use these crafts to meaningfully decorate your bulletin board, classroom, or hallway! Your students will be proud to take them home and show them off to their families! ✏️These resources are low prep and will save you time! Simply print and go! ✏️Great for centers, sub tub, early finishers, independent work, partner work, or small group work for your elementary school learners! ................................................................................................................................................. ✅ Bundle includes: ☑ Totem pole writing craft ☑ Teepee 3D writing crafts ☑ Buffalo hide writing crafts ................................................................................................................................................ ❤️ Teacher Tips: ⭐️Don't forget, you can earn TPT credits towards future purchases by leaving a review of this resource! Thank you for your valuable time and feedback! ⭐️Be the first to know about my new discounts, freebies, and product launches: Follow Me ................................................................................................................................................ If you have any questions, please contact me: [email protected] Thanks for stopping by and taking a look. Wishing you a wonderful school year! ❤️Kimberly
Learn about the Pacific Northwest Tribes with hands-on Native American worksheets and FREE printable activities.
In an era of high stakes testing, art is sometimes the first thing to go but we as teachers need to find ways to continue providing art experiences for our students. Not only is art just plain fun, and let's face it, kids do need fun, but it's much more than that. Art is beneficial in so many ways! Find out ways to incorporate art in this post by The Teacher Next Door.
Native American Heritage Month is in November and a great history lesson for kids. Get Native American lesson plans, American Indian arts and crafts including totem pole craft ideas and more cultural ideas for the month. We have teaching resources on history of Native Americans (American Indians history) and present-day Native American cultures. Perfect for November teaching resources for Thanksgiving, too!
A fun and easy stick game, common among Native American tribes
Are you and your kids making a Native American diorama? Here are tips and step-by-step directions on how we made ours. There's no better way to combine social studies and art than making a diorama. We LOVE making dioramas!
Second Grade students are hard at work on their Native American Shields. Each student choose a symbol to represent his or her personality. We looked at many different kinds of symbols found in petroglyphs and pictographs created by many different tribes of Native Americans all over the Southwest United States. Then each student used four symbols to tell a story about an adventure she or he had in nature. Last, we added four smaller symbols to share our interests, and drew a pattern around the edge of the shield. Here, students are painting their symbols and patterns. Our last step will be to add beads and feathers.
If you're like me, teaching social studies is near and dear to your heart. In this post you will find a few ideas about creating meaningful projects in the classroom to help your students understand some Native American history. When creating the projects I've kept in mind time, money and skill level. Native Americans created pictures on rocks to record their tribal history. These pictures could be done by drawing, painting or carving into the rock. The southwestern United States contains the largest concentration of rocks used by Native Americans to record their tribal history. You might see pictures like buffalo, horses, deer or hunting on these rocks. When teaching students about this tradition you could do a couple of projects that are quick and meaningful. Consider giving your students rocks with a flat surface and asking them to record part of their history on the rock. That may contain a car for transportation, food or something important to their everyday life. You could also have them research cave drawing and recreate a picture on the rock and explain it in writing. The rocks above were drawn on with sharpie marker and it took about 2 minutes. Animal hides have been used by Native Americans for several purposeful reasons. They were used for practical reasons like clothing, travel and shelter. Hides were also used for spiritual reasons like healing the sick and promoting healthy moms. Some tribes recorded their history on the hides with paintings. When teaching students about this tradition you could give them brown paper bags, construction paper or dye paper a brown hue. Have students research the history behind hides and recreate something using the paper as a hide. The paper above was stained with water and a bit of brown paint in the water. It took 2 minutes to paint it. You could allow it to dry over night. It took 5 minutes to create the drawings. The popular dreamcatcher was originally created by the Ojibwe. It was created to catch everything bad or evil and protect infants. The dreamcatcher was hung on the infant's cradle or carrier. Spiritual or sacred items could be used when weaving the web in the dreamcatcher. Such items might be feathers, beads, bones and hide. Consider having students research dream catchers and creating one of their own with paper plates, string and other items that you have in the classroom. The design intricacy could be chosen based on the age of your students. I numbered the holes for students which allowed them to string it in about 10 minutes. Click here to find a pattern for the holes and numbers. Native American jewelry has long been admired for it's beauty and meaning. This jewelry can be include necklaces, earrings, bracelets, rings, pins, belts, etc. While jewelry is different and specific to each region and tribe, many times designs are borrowed and used across areas. Some materials used to create necklaces were bone and stone. Have your students research the significance behind this jewelry and create a necklace of their own. Consider having your students paint pasta like bones/stones and creating a necklace of their own. We dropped a little bit of paint in a paper Dixie cup and had students swish the pasta around. After the paint we laid the pasta out to dry. If you are in need of reading passages, lessons and materials to teach your students about the different Native American Regions check out the unit below by clicking on the picture. Find another detailed post about teaching Native American History here:
Behold the magic of the elementary art classroom. This blog is intended as a venue for parents and students to check out what is going on in the art room at Thomas Elementary. Also, possibly more importantly, it is a place for other educators to find free art lesson plans and share ideas. Art, art education, art classroom, bottle cap, mural, elementary art blog, painting, ceramics, fun, awesome, interesting.
2nd Grade artists added to their knowledge of Native American Art and Culture when they looked at why certain tribes make Totem Poles, h...
Kindergarten artists have been learning about how Native Americans lived. We also looked at some youtube clips about how Native Americans wove blankets! We used Native American colors and designs to create our own paper blankets! On the back of our artworks, we wrote and colored on a handout that can help mom and dad know about what we are learning.
I have a round up of 100 free Native American resources. Well, do you really mind if it’s a wee bit more than 100? You'll love these AWESOME resources!rn
If you're studying Native American cultures in your homeschool, try making a dream catcher as part of your study! This tutorial will give you the information
Hello! I know, I've been gone for a while. Sorry about that. You know I have been reorganizing my room. I was at school every day last ...
The history of the Native American people belongs to every American. It is important to hear their stories and remember them. Enjoy this Plains Indians Unit Study and free lapbook printables with your children. You'll study geography, homes, food, and more of these Native Americans and enjoy assembling the lapbook. It's a wonderful way to learn about and honor this group of early Americans!
