With Thanksgiving quickly approaching there are hundreds of crafts out there for kids to make. And what better craft ideas to use during the Thanksgiving season the something that has to do with Native Americans. Native American craft making with kids can be fun for the whole family. You can find craft ideas for just about every child in your family or in the classroom.
The Native American culture is quite different today than it was centuries ago; fortunately we are lucky enough to have some of the traditions and culture still around. Here are some fun Native American craft ideas to make with your kids for the Thanksgiving holiday season.
Native American headdress
In the Native American culture there were several different types of headdress worn by the Indians:
• Feather Warbonnets
• Roach Headdresses
• Feather Headbands
• Other tribal headdresses for Women
Making a headdress with your kids can be a lot of fun, and can be as easy or as hard as you want to make it. You can make it out of real feathers and other materials, or you can make a simple headdress out of just paper. Cut out the number of feathers you want, measure the size of the head, and either glue the feathers on or staple them. Then wrap it around their head and you’re done. They can decorate them any way they choose.
Dream Catchers
It is believed that dream catchers are supposed to keep the bad dreams out and the good ones in. Kids love looking at dream catchers and they will love making them. As with headdresses, there are also several different ways to make dream catchers. The skill level needed will vary depending the type of dream catcher you make. You can make some simple ones out of Popsicle sticks and yarn, foam, and the “real” dream catchers are generally made out of metal hoops, feathers, and yarn. You can find patterns in books or magazines, or look online to find ideas. Kids love them.
Native American paper dolls
This may not be the most popular craft for boys, but girls love making any kind of paper doll. Young boys will also like to put their own personal touches on their paper dolls. You can find some really cute patterns that come with Native American dress wear to make them look really cute.
Beaded arrowhead necklace
Even the boys will consider making and wearing one of these, simply because it has an arrowhead on the end of the necklace. These necklaces are easy enough for even the youngest kids to make. All you need is string or think piece of leather, beads, and an arrowhead to tie on the end. The only part they’ll really need help with is attaching the arrowhead.
Totem Pole crafts
These are extremely easy for kids to make don’t take a whole lot of time either. All you need for these easy crafts is a toilet paper roll, some extra paper, and some poster paint (or markers if you don’t want the kids using paint). You can tape several toilet paper rolls together to make a tall totem poll, or you can use just one. You’ll probably want to draw some patterns on them for younger kids to make it a little easier, or have one already made for them to look at.
This is just the tip of the ice berg when it comes to Native American craft making with kids. There are hundreds of other ideas out there if these don’t suit your fancy. Good luck and have fun.