Another Native American craft the kids made were wampum belts. There are fabulous instructions at There’s a Dragon in my Art Room. We didn’t stray too far, if at all, from her directions.

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I asked the boys to make 3 30 x 5 rectangles on graph paper. Then, fill each rectangle in with a design possibility for their wampum belt. Each square represented one bead.

Authentic wampum belts were made with shells, but we used pony beads instead.

Left:  I cut a 3″ x 11.5″ loom out of stiff cardboard. This photo is the back of the loom once we wrapped it with string. Both ends are taped to the loom.
Top Right: This plastic kids needle barely fit through the beads, but it did fit.
Bottom Right: We used a stiffer twine for threading the beads. I’m not sure I would recommend it, but it worked.

They turned out great!

I loved this activity because it was something out of the ordinary for us. We don’t often use beads in our artwork. Plus, it was a fun hands-on Native American learning experience.

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