EXPLORE NATIVE AMERICAN CULTURES!: WITH 25 GREAT PROJECTS

Description

Packed with fascinating stories about the America's first peoples, this children's activity book uses humor and hands-on projects to outline Native Americans ways of life, beliefs, festivals, technology, and arts and crafts. The projects and games, which encourage children to investigate the culture of Native Americans and how they learned to survive, but thriving communities, and interacted with European explorers and settlers, are outlined with clear step-by-step instructions and diagrams, and require minimal adult supervision. Designed to stimulate the imagination, the activities include learning Native American sign language, creating a salt dough map of the Native American regions, building a longhouse dwelling, making a birchbark canoe, turning marshmallows into decorative totem poles, and playing Inuit tug-o-war. A Madlibs-inspired section provides hilarious fun and fosters vocabulary learning.

Anita Yasuda is a qualified Montessori and early childhood education teacher and the author of more than 20 books, including the Being Green series, Explore the Solar System!, Explore Water!, Greetings from Buffalo, and Hello Kitty: Cute, Creative & Collectible. She lives in Huntington Beach, California. Jennifer K. Keller is an illustrator with an MFA from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. She lives in San Jose, California.

School Library Journal "This lively and informative introduction is divided into six regions (Northeast Woodlands, Southeast, Southwest and Mesoamerica, Great Plains, Pacific Northwest, and Arctic). Each section provides a concise overview of the tribes, their food, housing, ceremonies, clothing, and games. There are roughly dive kid-friendly activities per regions, ranging from shell rattles to Mayan glyphs, a bear-claw necklace to Inuit sculpture. A "Words to Know" box appears on almost every page, explaining highlighted words that are used in the text. Although the format is somewhat busy, the scattered sections of text and black-and-white drawings are relevant and fun. "Then and Now," "Wow" facts", and occasional, playful "Just for Laughs" box, complement the overall package. (What has hundreds of ears but can't hear a thing? A crop of corn!) And children will lean that the phrase "bury the hatchet" (meaning to make peace with) likely comes from literally putting one's war tools underground. A wide range of ages will be able to take something away from this entertaining and useful title. " The Midwest Book Review "Explore Native American Cultures! is an enrichment text and workbook for students of Native American studies ages 6-9. Containing 25 diverse hands on projects to help explore different Native American cultures and contributions, Explore Native American Cultures! presents interesting factual information on Southeast, the Southwest and Mesoamerica, the Great Plains, the Pacific Northwest, and the Arctic. Black and white illustrations and gray highlighted sidebars present additional information in handy formats, such as "Then & Now" or "Words to Know", and "Just For Laughs." Interesting project directions include make your own Katsina doll, Mayan glyphs, bear claw necklace, soft twine bag, and many more. A timeline, introduction, and glossary complete this handy Native American crafts and studies text for elementary age students." Barry D. Kass, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, SUNY Orange "An interesting and entertaining introduction to native North American cultures for young readers. This valuable educational resource helps young minds overcome negative cultural stereotypes of native people and better understand native people as fellow human beings who led complex and creative cultural lives." Marla Conn, Educational Consultant "Explore Native American Cultures! enables students to gain an understanding about how important historical events are in shaping our modern world. Young readers will develop their perspectives of the world and understand the relationships between people, places, and environments."