Kids Native American Vest Craft

by Victoria Armijo on October 23rd, 2013 | 1 Comment »

This is one of my all-time favorite fall and Thanksgiving kid crafts! These are great for pretend play, Thanksgiving dinner, or to use during a Native American unit lesson.

Kid Craft: How to Make a Native American Vest

Materials Needed

Grocery paper bag
Construction paper
Markers, crayons, colored pencils, or paint
Paint brushes if using paint
Feathers
Craft glue and glue stick
Stapler
Scissors

Directions for Cutting Paper Bag Vest

The first step is to cut your vest from the paper bag. This might look a bit complicated, but I promise it's not. I usually do not draw lines when I'm cutting the vest, but I did here for visualization. You want to cut arm holes on each side of the bag, about 3-4 inches in.
Then cut a neck hole at the top, about 4-5 inches.
You will want to then open up your bag so that you have the flat side of the bag (which is the bottom of the bag) on top. From the opening you already made for the neck just cut around the entire flat area, just leaving about 2-3 inches on each side (this will be what lays on your child's shoulders).
Cut a straight line from bottom to top on your bag. This will be the opening of your vest.
Go ahead and inside out your vest. You want the store logo on the inside, so that you have a plain canvas to decorate.
The last step is to cut the extra piece of paper on each side of the arm holes. Just cut a straight line across to cut off any excess.
If you would like, you can also add fringe at the bottom of your bag

Now the fun part! On a white board or sheet of paper draw several Native American symbols and explain to your child what they mean and how the Native Americans have used them. This will give them a guide on ideas for their vests.

Let your child decorate their Native American vest from what they have learned using the symbols above and any other ideas they may come up with. Encourage your child to make drawings or paintings of animals, plants, flowers, and people.

Of course no vest is complete without a simple feathered headband. Using a long strip of construction paper, wrap around your child's head and staple the ends together. Using craft glue add some feathers to the headband. You can also decorate the headband again using some of the Native American symbols learned earlier.

Now you have created a fun and bright American Indian vest that your child can enjoy through imagination play or even wear it to a Thanksgiving feast! I hope you enjoy making these fun vests as much as we did!

What Thanksgiving craft are you looking forward to making?

Hi, I'm Victoria from ABC Creative Learning. I am a wife and mommy of two amazing little girls. Our lives are surrounded with homeschooling, arts & crafts, fun, ballet, sports, and family fun! My hobbies consist of reading a good book while drinking an amazing cup of coffee, blogging, homeschooling my girls, being a sports and dance mom, going to the gym whenever possible, and cooking allergy-safe foods for my family! Visit my blog to learn more about me and follow along on our journey as I blog about homeschooling, food allergies, and family life. You can also find me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and Google+.