ACTIVITY IDEAS
Arkansas Archeology Week 2000
Theme: A Necessity of Life: Clothing
Downloadable
Documents
The following
.pdf documents provide background information on this year's Archeology
Week theme, as well as references for further information. You may download
these documents for your own use and make copies to distribute in your
classes or programs.
You
will need the free Adobe Acrobat reader to view and print the following
items. Abobe Acrobat can be downloaded here.
A Necessity of Life: Clothing - Background
information on this year's theme.
References
on Native American Clothing
Lesson
Plan: Fabric Impressions
Ideas for Programs or Classrooms
Draw
a Shirt
Bring in pictures
from books and magazines showing different Native American dress, or native
costumes from throughout the world. Using butcher paper or art paper,
cut out two pieces for each student to be the front and back of a shirt
or dress. Poke holes around the edges and sew with yarn. Let students
decorate their clothing in a traditional style and then wear them.
Write a Story
Bring in a variety of buttons of different styles and sizes. Let each
child choose 1-3 buttons, then write a story about the person who would
have worn them on their clothing.
Make an Exhibit
Make a display of various clothing-working tools, both prehistoric and
historic. Prehistoric tools could include knives, awls, scrapers, spindle
whorls, and needles. Historic tools could include tatting shuttles, needles,
pins, knitting needles, crochet hooks, spools of thread, thimbles, darning
eggs, lace-making tools, and weaving tools.
Offer a Craft Class
Teach a class on a clothing-making skill. Indian crafts can include fingerweaving,
moccasin-making, or beading and quillwork. Older children can easily learn
fingerweaving using dowels and yarn; see the References for a book on
this craft. Historic crafts can include knitting, crocheting, or tatting.
Contact your county Home Extension Office to find an instructor.
Research Traditional
Clothing
Have students research clothing styles of Native Americans from different
parts of the country (or different cultures worldwide). Use books, magazines,
and the Internet to find pictures and information. Write a report on how
climate, gender, age, and culture may be reflected in clothing styles.
Think like an Archeologist
Discuss what an archeologist would learn from the clothes you are wearing.
Which clothing items might survive thousands of years; which would not?
Can you tell from what remains which are girls' or boys' clothes? What
can you say about climate, technology, or status differences reflected
in the remains.
Collect Fasteners
Young children can bring in samples of clothing fasteners to compare,
such as buttons, shoelaces, ties, belts, zippers, velcro, snaps, hooks-and-eyes.
You can also review activity ideas from past Archeology Weeks:
- Archeology Month 2006: Merchants & Traders
- Archeology Month 2005: Life on the Rivers
- Archeology Month 2004: Containers Before Plastic
- Archeology Month 2003: Archeology & the Louisiana Purchase
- Archeology Month 2002: Made From Clay - Cooking & Craftsmanship
- Archeology Week 2001: Archeological Parks
- Archeology Week 2000: Clothing
