American Indian Art Workshop

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On Wednesday the 4th we visited the Nelson-Atkins Museum for an American Indian art workshop.  The kids toured the museum to view how American Indian cultures used color and pattern to communicate.  Then we went to an art classroom so the kids could create their own parfleches, a pouch or packet used by Native Americans to store items.  Traditionally, parfleches are made out of leather, and can be decorated with designs, patterns or even maps.  The parfleches made by our kids were made out of paper, and the kids had full creative reign and came up with some great designs!

The instructor showed the kids an example of a parfleche pattern:

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She also showed them how to create a design to repeat on their parfleche.

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To begin, the kids drew borders on the parfleche.

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After drawing the borders, the kids used stamps to create repeating patterns.

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They used pastels to color in their shapes, patterns, or to draw a picture.

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They also used paints to decorate their parfleches.

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Once they finished decorating the parfleches, it was time to tie on the strings to close the sides, and the parfleches were ready to take home!

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Thanks to the Nelson-Atkins Museum and instructors for a wonderful program, and a big thanks to kids who attended for making it such a nice class!

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