DREAMCATCHERS
Subject:
Multicultural Art
Grade:
K-5
Age:
4-11
Submitted by:
Dana Macrigiane
Objectives:
- To familiarize students with Native American arts/crafts through legends.
- To reveal the origin of the popular decorative art called a dreamcatcher.
What You Need:
- Paper twist ribbon (sold in a roll - one roll is enough for 12 - 6" hoops)
- Yarn or string in any color (I like to use white or beige)
- A variety of beads.
- Feathers in assorted colors.
What You Do:
Begin by showing the class examples of dreamcatchers. You might tell them the story of the Lakota spirit of wisdom named IKTOMI who disguised himself as a spider to visit the Lakota's leader. Iktomi took the leader's willow hoop and told him about the importance of the cycle of life. Iktomi spun a web in the leader's hoop and told him that the "dreamcatcher" would catch the leader's good dreams and let the bad ones fall through the web's center. This would help the leader and his people realize their dreams and ideas.
- Pre-cut the hoops from the paper ribbon and tape the open end to create a circle.
- Have students tie an anchor knot with the yarn/string from one side of the hoop to the other in order to create a line across the hoop's center.
- Have students continue to create their dreamcatcher's "web" by stretching the yarn/string across the hoop's center in different directions.
Note: If they want to include beads in the web they must string them before they tie off the yarn/string onto the edge of the hoop.
- Tie two or three pieces of yarn/string on bottom of dreamcatcher hoop to suspend beads and feathers and include a small loop of yarn/string at the hoop's top to hang your dreamcatcher.
- Make sure all knots are nice and tight to keep the dreamcatcher's web intact.
Enjoy and SWEET DREAMS!
More Information:
Iktomi and the Legend of the Dreamcatcher
http://www.dreamcatchers.org/dcat16T.html
Dreamcatchers Past, Present and Future
http://www.nfobase.com/html/dreamcatchers.html
Recommended Books/Videos:
Grandmother's Dreamcatcher
A Chippewa girl's bad dreams are kept at bay by a dreamcatcher in this straightforward story.
Dreamcatcher
A quiet glimpse of family affection and other universals within a particular traditional culture.
Isaac's Dreamcatcher
A thoughtful and gentle picturebook story about a young boy who dreads naptime because of a monster in his dreams... but the kindly teacher Miss Louise draws upon her Native American heritage to fashion a "dreamcatcher" to filter out bad dreams and welcome in the good ones.
Recommended Products:
Biography:
Dana Macrigiane teaches an afterschool enrichment program called Arts of the World, in Douglaston, New York.
