NATIVE AMERICAN ART Projects & Ideas for Kids
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Native American Art: 3D Art Lesson Plans

Scroll down to find a variety of multicultural tribal specific ceramic lesson ideas.  Each lesson incorporates Native American Culture by tribe and region, elements and principles of art, cross-curricular suggestions and materials. (more to come)
Click HERE to access my TPT account for additional lessons, rubrics and resources.
Polar Bear Math
This lesson ideas will share a simple art project to tie into the study of the Innuit culture and legends. You will use math concepts
to direct the construction. Using fractions children will divide the clay into 1/2 and 1/4 sections. Extend by illustrating the concepts of 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16 and 1/32 if age appropriate.​ Click HERE former information and the lesson.
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Arctic Crystal Sky with a Polar Bear
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Divide the modeling clay using fractions

Edmonia Lewis
Ojibwe-African American Artist!  Learn more about this extraordinary woman and create a relief sculpture  basked on your interests.  Explore the use of an all white modeling clay to mimic her use of Italian marble.  CLICK HERE for the lesson plan.

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Begin with a a wire armature
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Subject is something the student is interested in!
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"Mud Pony" Clay Sculpture/Relief Sculpture

Grade(s): 2-3                                                                     Tribes: Skidi Pawnee

Resource/Book: The Mud Pony by Shonto Begay

Objectives: Create a clay horse part-to-whole, use math divide clay into sections 

Materials Needed:  
Book: Mud Pony
Air Dry Clay or Model Magic
Watercolor paints
Wood stylus
Tag Board (Relief Sculpture) 

Lesson: 
DAY 1
-Read Story
-Examine horse shapes
-hand out clay and divide into sections: 
1 Roll into a large coil
  2 Divide in half (Green line) 1/2s 
    3 Divide each half again (black lines) 1/4s
             4 Divide 3 of the 4 sections in half again (red lines) 1/8s

                   Body                         neck/Head       mane/tail          front leg       front leg        back leg          back leg

-Form body
-Add neck and head
-Add legs, make sure it stands, modify as needed
-Add mane and tail
-Use stick to add detail or modify let dry overnight,
DAY 2
Paint the next day with a water based paint- tempera or watercolor (I used watercolor with salt to create the bursts of white)

* Model Magic relief sculpture: Follow steps 1-4 and create a 2-D horse to mount on tag board, horse will not need to stand, students may add details onfront side only.  Use a scissors to cut the mane and tail.



Native American Art:  "Mayan Ruins" Ceramic Lesson Idea
6th grade


Native American Art: "Identity Sculpture" Ceramic Lesson Idea
8th grade


Native American Art:  Pueblo Pottery Lesson Plan

Title/Technique:   Pueblo Pottery
This lesson uses the Smithsonian Web site for an introduction to Pueblo Pottery.  After learning about the importance and meaning of the pottery symbols, students will design their own symbols for a clay wall vase.

Tribe (s): Pueblo Region: Southwest
Cross curricular connections: Lang Arts, US History
Grade(s): 1-8
Elements/Principles of art: Shape, Symbols

Materials:
clay, small water containers, clay tools
hand out with 3” square/circle
tagboard templates of various vase shapes
newspaper

Learn about Pueblo Pottery here:        http://americanhistory.si.edu/ourstory/pdf/pueblo/pueblo_explore.pdf

Description:
  • Explore web page site listed above.
  • Brainstorm: What natural items are important to you and your family? (examples: earth, wind, fire, water, food, animals/pets, etc) 
  • Choose your item/element.
  • Design a symbol to represent your element.   It should be roughly 3 inches.  When drawing, have them make sure their design touches the side of the 3” circle/square  
  • Do you think other’s can ‘read’  your symbol? Share with a classmate and refine as needed.
  • Prepare your wall pot;
    • roll a slab of clay
    • choose a pot shape template and trace it twice. Cut shapes out of clay
    • On one shape, make your shape from coils or thin slabs of clay.  
    • Attach with scratch and wet technique.
    • Join two pieces of clay together around the edges, use scratch and wet technique.
    • Stuff inside of pot with newspaper. 
    • Poke a hole on the back pot shape to hang on wall.
    • Let dry flat, the back should be flat on the table, the top slightly rounded.
    • Dry, fire and paint.
  • Older students could make a coil vase/pot.
  • If you do not have access to clay or a kiln students could use paper or paint as well.  You can also make a nice wall pocket using paper plates and paint.
**PHOTOGRAPHS coming soon!

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