If you’re looking for Native American crafts for kindergarten, you’ll love this fun pinch pot. Besides this fun activity grab more on my page kindergarten homeschool curriculum.
I can clearly remember creating little pinch pots in early elementary school.
They were the perfect little art project when you were ready to move beyond crayons and paper.
No matter how imperfect they were they were perfect in your eyes. And I suspect your mother’s too.
When considering a simple Native American kindergarten craft, I immediately thought of these sweet little pinch pots.
Many tribes made their pottery in a similar fashion.
In fact, pinch pots are one of the oldest methods of making pottery.
About Native American Pinch Pots
Native Americans would usually gather their clay by hand from streams or hillsides.
It was a very labor-intensive process.
First, they had to extract the clay from the ground and then it had to be purified.
It was often mixed with plant fibers or sand to reduce shrinkage and cracking.
They would then create their clay pieces. Then, place them to dry in the sun and then heat with fire to be sure all moisture was removed.
For the most part these pots were used strictly as storage and for gathering.
Later on, they became a decorative item in many Native American homes.
Different patterns and designs mean different things to different groups.
Tribes like Pueblo, Navajo, and Cherokee are just a few of the groups that would have made pinch pots. Too, they would pass the skills of how to make them down to each generation.
Native Americans: A Visual Exploration had a great breakdown of maps, pictographs, and timelines.
The pictures are bright and offered a lot of information that can be shared with your child.
We are going to try out two different clay pot methods that were used by Native Americans
Sometimes these methods were even combined.
Once done these are great little trinket holders for beads, barrettes, paper clips, or other small items.
How to Make a Native American Pinch Pot
Next, look at this short list of supplies for making this fun Native American pot.
You will need:
- Air Dry Clay
- Paintbrushes
- Acrylic craft paint
Roll a lump of air dry clay into a ball and how much is up to you.
You may start and decide your pot needs to be larger.
Just mush it up, add some more and begin again.
I had white on hand so that is what I used.
But you could also buy it in terra cotta color for a more natural mud look. And you can use the rest to mix and match pots for more Native American crafts for kindergarten.
Press your thumb or fingers into the center to create a large impression.
Be careful to not poke all the way through.
If you do, you can easily repair it by squeezing and pinching it together again.
Show your child how to pinch the sides and bottom to widen the bowl and thin the side.
You want it to have relatively the same thickness all over.
Press the bowl gently into a hard surface like the counter to flatten and level out the bottom.
Allow your bowl to dry overnight and then flip over. Let it dry for 24 hours.
Flip once more so that the bottom can dry and let it sit another 24 hours.
You can put your pot out in the sun to dry just like the Native Americans did.
Finally, it is time to decorate your pinch pot.
A good plan is to show your child Native American designs from books or online.
And let them try to replicate them on their pot with acrylic craft paint, watercolors, or markers.
Then, try the second method.
Native American Kindergarten Crafts: Coil Pot
Another method of creating pottery that is similar to pinch pots is a coil pot.
Roll the clay out in coils and layer them to create your desired width and height.
Roll clay into snakelike coils.
Spiral the coil around itself until you have created a base as large as you would like it to be.
Gently pinch the coils together so that they hold to one another.
Start coiling around the outside edge and upward to create the sides of the bowl to the desired height.
Again press them gently together to remove cracks and gaps and help the coils stick together.
Let dry for 2-3 days until completely dry, flip every 24 hours.
What do you think? Are you ready to make a few?
Other Kindergarten Homeschool Curriculum Resources
Additionally, look at these other homeschool kindergarten resources.
- 10 Best Homeschool Phonics Curriculum For Kindergarten
- 15 Fun Resources For History for Kindergarten Homeschool
- 19 Fun Hands-on Rainforest Activities for Kindergarten
- Rainforest Crafts for Kindergarten: Make an Easy Paper Plate Monkey
- How to Create the Best Homeschool Schedule for Kindergarten (free printable)
- 60 Favorite Top Homeschooling Materials for Kindergarten
- 10 Affordable and Complete Homeschool Kindergarten Curriculum
Other Homeschool Native American Unit Study Resources
Finally, here are some Native American unit study resources.
- Free Native American Plains Indians Fun Lapbook for Kids (& resources)
- How to Make a Wigwam Craft for a Fun Native American Unit Study
- Texas Native American History Quick Unit Study (Middle School)
- 100 BEST Hands-on Free Native American Resources
- Plains Indians Free Writing Prompts. For Elementary, Middle and High School Homeschooled Kids
I know you can find an idea or two here.
