Kindergarten crafts help children develop their fine motor skills.
According to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, there are 558 federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes. This translates to more than 1.2 million native peoples whose culture and traditions shaped American history. Most students begin learning about Native Americans in kindergarten, typically before the Thanksgiving holiday approaches. At that time of year, schools often teach local Native American history that incorporates folklore and crafts from area tribes.
Native American Headdress
At the kindergarten level, talking about foods the Native Americans ate or what they wore is a way to incorporate cultural tidbits and history in an age-appropriate way. Creating a headdress worn by Native Americans not only provides work for busy hands, it allows children to take something home to mom and dad to show off their handiwork. Pre-cut 3-inch by 15- to 18-inch lengths of heavy construction paper and feather shapes for children to decorate and assemble. Once the child decorates his feather and headband, he'll need help stapling the feather to the strip of paper, and then he'll need an adult to fit the headdress to his head before stapling it into a band.
Native American Vest
Few children have made it out of kindergarten without making some sort of clothing out of a brown paper grocery bag. Cut a hole in the bottom of the bag for the head to poke through, and then cut one hole on each side of the bag for the arms. The vest is ready for the child to decorate with crayons, markers or paint, using pictures of actual Native American dress for inspiration. After the child decorates the vest, help the children cut fringe along the bottom and then help help each child slip her vest over her head.
Coffee Can Drum
Noise and kindergartners go together like bees and honey. Anyone who has ever lived with a 5-year-old knows that it's almost impossible to keep him from using pots and pans as drums or utensils as noisemakers. The classroom is an ideal place for a child to learn about a tribe's drum rituals for various rites of passage, and it also satisfies the kindergartner's need to make noise. A metal coffee can with plastic lid is painted and decorated with feathers, bits of paper, or leather and beads, and the child uses wooden dowels, chopsticks or tree branches as drumsticks.
Pottery Bowl
Children love getting their hands dirty, and craft time in the classroom often satisfies this desire. Pottery is an integral part of the Native American culture and is used not only for utilitarian purposes, but the vessels are also artistic creations. Combine an easy recipe for homemade clay incorporating cornstarch, baking soda and water. Children then roll the clay into long ropes and wind the rope along a circular base of clay, continuing to wind the clay up and around in circles on top of the previously made circle. Once the bowl is made, children etch designs in the bowl with a toothpick. Allow the bowl to dry for a week before sending it home with the student.
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