Fifth Grade Art Lesson 9

Weaving, Part 1 Radial Balanced American Indian Teepee Decorations

Objective:

The students will build a loom for creating an Indian teepee decoration.

Materials:

Materials to make a circular frame such as muscadine vine, grapevine, any type of sturdy vine (or a coat hanger), yarn in a variety of colors

Procedure:

Has your class studied Indians this year? Many fifth graders enjoy learning about Indian tribes and their beautiful artwork. Indians are historically known as a creatively artistic people. From their homes to their clothing to their jewelry and tools, Indians typically made the things they needed from natural materials. The Southwest Plains Indians made teepee decorations. These decorations hung on the outside of their home/teepee, and the design told about the family that lived there. We are going to make our own teepee decorations to get a feel for weaving as well as creating a historically interesting object. Begin using a vine to bend into a circle. You probably need to tie the overlapped ends to keep them secure. The Sioux Indians used the circle to symbolize the interconnectedness of the world. Cut ten strips of yarn longer than the diameter of your circle. Tie each strings from one side of your circle to the other. Cut another piece and use one end to tie the center yarns together. Stretch the other end to the side of your loom or circle and tie it off. Your strings should not be loose not should they be pulled so tight as to have tension. We now have a loom ready for weaving. We will begin our weaving in our next lesson.

Conclusion:

Encourage your students to look up more information about the Sioux Indians or whatever tribe you may be studying and spend more time learning about the art produced by that tribe. We will begin weaving on our looms next lesson.

Artwork and Examples used in this lesson

Teachers Example