Make A Native American Bowl
Make this simple Native American inspired paper bowl craft as part of a lesson about Indigenous history, handmade tools, and useful everyday art. Kids can cut, shape, lace, and decorate their own bowl using card stock, jute, and colorful beads.
This project is a good fit for Native American crafts, classroom activities, homeschool history lessons, or hands-on social studies units. It also helps children see how useful objects can be both practical and beautiful.
Fun Facts
Many Native American communities made everyday items by hand using materials found in their local environment. Bowls, baskets, pottery, tools, and clothing were often created to be useful, but they were also decorated with meaningful colors, shapes, and designs.
Corn became an important crop for many Native American peoples. According to History, Pueblo people in the American Southwest were among the earliest Native Americans to cultivate corn, and it later became a staple food for many other tribes.
Supplies
- 36 inch piece of jute
- Bowl pattern
- Brown card stock
- Turquoise beads
- Scissors
- Hole punch
- Tacky glue
- White glue
Instructions
- Stiffen one end of the jute with a little white glue. Let it dry before lacing.
- Print the bowl pattern on brown card stock.
- Cut out the bowl shape. Cut only along the solid lines inside the bowl. The dotted lines are guides and should not be cut.
- Punch the holes where marked on the pattern.
- Overlap each cut section so it meets the dotted line beside it. Glue each section in place to shape the bowl.
- Thread the jute through one hole and pull it almost all the way through, leaving about 2 inches to tie off later.
- Lace around the top edge of the bowl using a whip stitch. Add a turquoise bead at every other hole.
- Tie off the jute and trim the ends.
Patterns, Templates and Printables
Click on the pattern to open it in a new window and print.
Teacher Friendly Educational Extension
Use this craft as a starting point for a respectful classroom discussion about how different Native American communities used local materials to create practical items. Explain that Native American cultures are not all the same, and each tribe has its own history, traditions, art forms, and ways of life.
Invite students to look at examples of Indigenous pottery, baskets, or beadwork from specific tribes or regions. Ask them to notice patterns, colors, materials, and shapes. Students can then write a few sentences about how handmade objects can be both useful and artistic.
For a social studies connection, have students research one Native American tribe and learn about the types of materials available in that region. This can lead into a map activity, a short writing prompt, or a classroom display.
Supplies
Instructions
Patterns, Templates and Printables
Click on a pattern to open it in a new window
Contributor
These projects are created by Terri, Betty, Jamie or one of the talented staff members at MakingFriends.com. They have been created exclusively for publication on FreeKidsCrafts.com with supplies you'll be able to find around your house.
