5th Grade- Navajo Sand Painting

In fifth grade, we're learning about the Navajo tribe of Native Americans. In art class, we were inspired by one of the most highly respected Navajo traditions- sand paintings. The sand painting has been used for centuries in religious rituals, including healing ceremonies performed by Navajo medicine men. The colors for the painting are usually made with naturally colored sand, crushed gypsum (white), yellow ochre, red sandstone, charcoal, and a mixture of charcoal and gypsum (blue). Brown can be made by mixing red and black; red and white make pink. Other coloring agents include corn meal, flower pollen, or powdered roots and bark.

Or to create your own virtual sand painting, visit: http://www.artsology.com/sand_painting.php

Traditionally, a sand painting for a ceremony is made on the ground in the ceremonial hogan and destroyed at the end of the ritual. Aren't you glad our works of art were not destroyed?

To learn more about sand paintings, please visit these websites:
http://www.anthro4n6.net/navajosandpainting/
http://navajopeople.org/navajo-sand-painting.htm

3rd Grade- Radial Symmetry Weavings

We learned about people from many cultures who use weavings for both functional and decorative purposes. Our weavings are functional for holding coins, or something solid, but not for eating out of.
The weavings we've created with yarn and a paper plate are symmetrical from the center and all the way around in a circle. This is called radial symmetry.

In radial weaving, artists weave in and out of spokes- not unlike the structure of spokes on a bicycle or car wheel. Wouldn't a bike look interesting with yarn weaved through it's spokes?