We have been working on American history as we learn about the 50 states.  

We spent several weeks talking about Jamestown and then we studied the Pilgrims and Plymouth Colony.  Along the way we’ve had fun with several Native American crafts for kids.

This simple wigwam craft is one that is perfect if you’re studying early American history.  

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This wigwam model would be a fun addition to a Native American unit study.   Research how to make a wigwam with your child or students, and then create your own mini version.  

If you are studying Native Americans and early settlers, you may also want to try making your own corn husk dolls.

You could also use this wigwam project as a Thanksgiving craft for kids.  Add a few figures and they’ll have hours of fun playing with their creation.

Wigwam Craft

Materials Needed:

• Thin Cardboard (We used cereal boxes.)
• Brown Construction Paper
• Liquid Craft Glue
• Paintbrush
• Stapler
• Shallow Dish

Start by getting your materials ready.

Instead of using a wooden frame, like a real wigwam, this miniature version uses thin cardboard.

Cut 3 cardboard strips that are 1 x 11 inches (2.5 cm x 28 cm).  Cut another strip that is 1 x 16 inches (2.5 x 41 cm).   (We actually stapled 2 smaller strips together to make ours because our box wasn’t big enough.)

Form the longest cardboard strip into a circle and staple together.  This will be the wigwam’s base.

Next, staple the 3 shorter strips to the cardboard circle to form a dome.  (As shown in picture below.)

In place of the birchbark or woven mats that would be used you will be using brown construction paper.

Have your child rip the brown construction paper into 1 inch thick strips and then tear the strips to form 1 inch “squares.”  They don’t have to be perfect, just approximately the same size.

How to Make a Wigwam out of Paper

Pour glue into a shallow dish and use the paintbrush to glue the construction paper pieces to the cardboard strips.

Allow pieces of paper to overhang the cardboard strips.  Once the cardboard pieces are covered, allow your project to dry some before continuing.

Once it has dried, it is time to fill in those spaces between the cardboard supports.

Glue the construction paper “bark” so it overlaps and begins to fill in those spaces.  You may need to let it dry some as you work, depending on how much glue your child uses.  Continue the process until the whole thing is covered in brown paper.

Allow it to dry.

To make the paper feel more like bark (and to make the structure stronger), use the paintbrush and cover the entire outside of the wigwam with one more layer of glue.  This is the perfect time to patch any remaining holes with a few more squares of paper.

Then allow the whole thing to dry overnight.

Once it is dry, it is time to cut your door and a smoke hole at the top.  

Use the tip of your scissors to slowly and carefully poke a hole at the top.  You can wiggle them and turn your scissor blades to make the hole round.  (This step is best done by a parent.)

We originally created our wigwams to go with our Jamestown unit.  The kids discovered our Playmobil Native Americans were just the right size.  They spent hours reenacting what we had learned about.

This wigwam craft would also be a great Thanksgiving craft.  It pairs nicely with learning about the Mayflower and the Plymouth Colony.  Young kids may also like these Mayflower crafts.  

You may also like:

• Making a Wigwam for School from Sue at Home
• Make Your Own Tin Can Lantern — Colonial America Craft
• Turkey Craft to Increase Fine Motor Skills 
• Go on a Candy Cane Hunt! 

Originally published November 7, 2016. 

The post How to Make a Model of a Wigwam from Paper first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

While pilgrims and turkey crafts are fun for kids to make, you can actually use those crafts to help kids think about all they have to be thankful for.  

This adorable thankful Turkey Paper Bag Puppet is one of our favorite November crafts for kids preschool-first grade.  Over the years it has become one of our most popular Thanksgiving crafts.

This Thankful turkey craft is a fun Thanksgiving craft for preschoolers, but works well for kindergarten and first graders, too.

If you are looking for more ways to teach young kids about gratitude, check out this simple idea for  Teaching Kids to Give Back.

Paper Bag Turkey Craft

Affiliate links have been provided below; see my full disclosure here. 

Materials Needed:

• Brown Paper Lunch Bag
• Construction Paper
• Self-Sticking Googly Eyes
• Glue Stick and Scissors
• Crayons or Markers

My son did this craft in his first grade religious education class.  To help things go a little faster, the teacher used a marker to write a shortened version of  Ephesians 5:20 — “Always give thanks to God the Father for everything” on the front of each paper bag ahead of time.

If you are doing this Thanksgiving craft with kids in a public school, or you would rather just not have a Bible reference on it, you could simply write, “I am thankful for…” on the front of the turkey.   (And, of course, kids can write it on the bag themselves, too.)

You could also try one of these simple verses:

Once the feathers have all been added, cut 2 yellow triangles to glue on as a beak. 

Glue a pair of large googly eyes onto the turkey to complete the craft.  (Don’t you just love googly eyes?)

Other Turkey Crafts:

• Fine Motor Skills Turkey
• Paper Plate Collage Turkey
• Hand and Footprint Turkey 

The post Thankful Turkey Paper Bag Puppet first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

Fun and easy Thanksgiving crafts to the rescue!

This simple paper cup turkey craft makes a cute centerpiece  that is sure to make the grandparents smile.

This craft is simple enough that even young toddlers can get in on the crafting fun.

Paper Cup Turkey Craft

Affiliate links have been provided below.  See my full disclosure here.

Materials Needed:

• Paper Cup
• Google Eyes
• Craft Glue
• Construction Paper 

For toddlers and early preschoolers, you may want to have all the construction paper pieces cut out ahead of time.

For older preschoolers and kindergartners consider drawing the shapes out ahead of time.  Then have your child cut the pieces out.  Craft time is a great opportunity to work on scissor skills!

Use colorful construction paper to make 5 or more feathers for each turkey.  Ours our football shaped, and about the length of the cup we used.

Cut a diamond from orange construction paper and fold it in half to form the turkey’s beak.

Use red construction paper to create a wiggly waddle.

(Optional) Cut wings from construction paper as well.

Once you have all the pieces cut out, have your child turn the paper cup upside down and glue the feathers into place on the back of the cup.

Then they can glue on  on the eyes, beak, waddle, and wings.

We plan on using our paper cup turkeys as a Thanksgiving centerpiece.  They would also make cute place cards just by writing each guest’s name on the cup.

You may also like these posts:

• Preschool Turkey Craft  —  Perfect for preschoolers and kindergartners, improve fine motor skills with this simple craft.  
• Hand and Footprint Turkey  —  If you love handprint crafts, you’ll love this cute little turkey.  
• 50 of the Best Apple Activities for Kids  —  A collection of the best apple crafts and activities from around the web for you and your child to enjoy together.

The post Paper Cup Turkey Craft first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

Candy corn.  When we finally got to do some real trick-or-treating (after that whole trick-or-treat on the wrong night fiasco), my daughter was disappointed that she didn’t get any in her bucket.  So, I went out and got a bag (75% off since it was after Halloween).

I decided we’d put some of it to good use and craft a few candy corn turkeys as an after school treat this week.

I have to say they were both pretty excited when I brought our turkey ingredients to the table.

I gave each of them a marshmallow to use as the turkey’s body, a handful of candy corn for its feathers, and a cut piece of Twizzler Pull-N-Peel candy to use as legs and a waddle.  I also got out some orange decorating icing for a beak (although candy corn would have worked as well), and some small dark candies for eyes.

They wasted no time getting creative!

Of course, their favorite part was eating their creations!

Like our candy corn turkey?    Check out our marshmallow snowmen!

The post Candy Corn Turkey first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

This week we had fun creating with our very own collage Paper Plate Turkey Craft to decorate our doors.

To create your own turkey, with plenty of personality and style, start with a paper plate with a wedge cut out of it, like the picture below.   This will become the base of the turkey’s tail feathers.

To decorate the feathers you will want a variety of magazine pictures, stickers, crayons, and colored tissue paper for your child to choose from.

All them to glue these items to cover the paper plate in a collage that represents their own interests.

My son grabbed up every car picture he could find, and a few super hero stickers to fill in the gaps.  I love how the turkey reflects his interests.

Once the feathers are decorated, cut a squash-shape for the turkey body from brown construction paper.

Have your child glue it to the front of their feathers.

Cut a beak, wattle, and feet from colored paper to glue on to the turkey.  Add googly eyes and this Thanksgiving craft is complete.

This unique paper plate turkey craft will have the guests smiling once they finish their plates this Thanksgiving.

You may also like these posts:

• Preschooler Turkey Craft
• Mayflower Craft
• 20 Crafts and Activities Using Real Leaves
• Easy to Make Apple-Scented Bubble Dough

The post Paper Plate Collage Turkey Craft first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

This year, though, it seemed the seeds were kind of woody.  They hung around for over a week, and I was about to pitch them in the trash, when I decided to use them for simple Thanksgiving Sensory Play.

Those seeds could also be used in some other fun Thanksgiving crafts & activities.

This Thanksgiving activity would be perfect after doing our Mayflower craft.

Thanksgiving Sensory Play

To make this sensory bin for Thanksgiving, I grabbed our big round plastic tub and added the roasted pumpkin seeds.

It just didn’t seem like enough at the bottom of our large tub, so I decided to add some of our colored rice using the fall colors of orange, green, and yellow.

Then I added a strand of colorful beads, reminiscent of the beads the settlers and Native Americans may have traded.  I also added some turkeys from our animal collection.

I knew my husband had a couple (affiliate link) Playmobil Native American figures in his old collection, but I was surprised to find a teepee as well.

Since we didn’t have any actual pilgrim characters, I settled on a Playmobil knight, and covered his silver armor with black construction paper and made him a little hat.

I sprinkled a tiny bit of cinnamon across the seeds and added a few of our clear plastic pumpkins from our earlier fall sensory bin.

The kids could NOT wait to get their hands on it!

I loved watching them recreate parts of the Thanksgiving story that we’ve talked about.

I also loved how the colored rice swirled with the pumpkin seeds, and at some point plastic dishes were involved as they dished up quite a colorful Thanksgiving feast.

This simple Thanksgiving sensory is the perfect use for some of those leftover pumpkin seeds.

You may also like these posts:

• Preschool Turkey Craft
• Build a Wigwam 
• Go on a Candy Cane Hunt! 

The post Simple Thanksgiving Sensory Small World first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.