You can make a dream catcher while you tell the legend behind it.
Native American history abounds with stories that stir the imagination and lend themselves to craft creation. Making crafts that go along with the stories will emphasize the major points, helping children remember the stories and giving them a memento of the time you spend with them. The hardest part of weaving a story around a craft activity is deciding what story to use.
Dream Catcher
You can emphasize the lessons in the dream catcher lesson by telling the story as you help a child make a dream catcher. You can make a dream catcher with a twig, wire, string, beads and feathers. In the legend of the dream catcher, a grandmother saves a spider from boys that are trying to kill it. In return, the spider weaves a web to catch the old woman's bad dreams. Place beads on the string and weave the string across the circle. Hang feathers from the bottom of the circle. When you make the dream catcher, make sure you leave a hole in the middle of the web to catch the dreams and tell the children that bad dreams will return if the catcher fills up. Sunlight will burn the bad dreams from the catcher.
Totem Pole
Totem poles tell a family's history, using representations of spirits and animals. Indians use totems to tell their family history and believe that the spirit of the people represented by the totem watch over them throughout their life. You can make a totem pole with a paper towel tube, markers and construction paper. Divide the construction paper into sections and decorate each section with a face. Make wings or arms for the sections. Gluing two craft sticks to the bottom of the pole will help it stay upright.
Kachina Dolls
The Hopi tribe use kachina dolls to teach their children their religion. They believe that the kachina spirits bring the rain to help crops grow. You can make a doll, using styrofoam balls, toilet paper tubes, construction paper and any decorating materials. Make the body of the doll with the tubes and the ball and decorate the doll any way you like. Deciding what your doll will represent before you decorate will make it easier to choose your materials.
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