Easy Kindergarten Activities on Native Americans

Native American Family

• Kindergartners can make a Native American family with empty paper towel and toilet paper rolls. According to the FreeKidsCrafts.com, the children can cover the empty rolls with construction paper to resemble a Native American. They can use construction paper to make clothes and hair, and cut the rolls in different heights to represent each family member. The children can also make an easy Native American headband. Cut a piece of 2 inch wide cardstock in the length around each child's head. Tape or staple the headband together and have each child cut a feather shape out of construction paper to tape to the back of the headband.

Tepee Activities

• Make a tepee matching game by printing several pictures of different tepees (two of each one). Laminate the pictures to make them more durable and last longer. Place each picture face down on a table and let the child play a game of memory. The child who finds the most pairs wins the game. For another tepee activity, give each child a polystyrene foam cone. She can cover the cone with brown construction paper or a brown paper sack. Give her a few small twigs to glue at the top of the tepee. She can then decorate her tepee with markers and stickers.

Native American Guessing Games

• According to the Scholastic website, guessing games were popular among Native American children. Have the children sit in a circle and play a game of pass that stone. Place a red clay stone in one hand and a green clay stone in the other hand. Pass one of the stones to the player to your right without him seeing the color. The player must guess which color you passed to him. If he guesses correctly, he gets both stones and continues the same play with the next player in the circle. If he guesses incorrectly, he is out of the game. The last player left in the game wins. For a variation, you can use colored stones or marbles instead of clay balls.

Totem Pole Activities

• Give each child an empty paper towel roll to decorate like a totem pole. They can use construction paper, stickers and markers to decorate the poles. Show the children a couple of pictures of totem poles so they have a guide to use. Explain to the children that Tlingit Indians use totem poles to tell the story of a Native American's family, as stated by the Enchanted Learning website. Create a contest with this activity and award small prizes for the best, funniest and most creative totem poles.