Children engaged in creative play with purple slime outdoors at a water table near a brick wall, subtly inspired by lesson plans on Native American culture, fostering both fun and learning in an imaginative setting.

Daycare Lesson Plans on Native American Culture

This page may contain affiliate links. Learn More.

Introducing young children to culture with Daycare Lesson Plans on Native American Culture can help them appreciate the rich history, traditions, and contributions of Native American communities. These lesson plans include hands-on activities, traditional gardening concepts, and simple recipes that can be adapted for a daycare setting. They provide an age-appropriate approach to teaching about Native American culture respectfully and meaningfully.

Children sit with a teacher reading "The Cloud Artist," while two others explore plants in a garden. Discover engaging daycare lesson plans on Native American culture and get inspired here.

For a printable copy of this free daycare lesson plan on Native American Culture that includes the Oklahoma ELG’s, check it out on ETSY here.

Lesson Plans on Native American Culture

1. Native American Symbols and Stories

  • Activity: Make a simple “story stick” or “story stone” using sticks or rocks. Encourage children to draw simple symbols that represent things from nature (sun, tree, water).
  • Materials Needed: Small rocks or sticks, markers or paint.
  • Storytime: Read a Native American folktale, such as “The Cloud Artist,” and discuss the story’s symbols and meaning.
Children exploring a garden labeled "Cherokee Garden," surrounded by corn plants and mulch, with a wooden fence and greenery in the background, gain unique insights akin to lesson plans on Native American traditions.
Children exploring tall plants in a garden on a sunny day, learning about native flora through lesson plans inspired by Native American traditions.
Six children stand smiling in front of a garden with tall, dried plants, bringing to life lesson plans on Native American cultures. A fence and trees form the backdrop, enhancing their educational journey.

2. Native American Gardening

  1. Activity: Create a small “Three Sisters” garden. Explain how corn, beans, and squash support each other’s growth: corn provides support for beans, beans enrich the soil with nitrogen, and squash spreads across the ground to prevent weeds.
  2. Materials Needed: Small garden plot or large pots, soil, seeds (corn, beans, squash).
  3. Storytime: Read a short story about Native American gardening traditions, such as “The Three Sisters” story, which explains the cultural importance of these plants.
Two children at a wooden table sort small, colorful toy vegetables as part of their lesson plan on Native American agriculture, while another child partially visible sits beside them.

3. Counting Corn/Pumpkin/Carrot Counters

  • Activity: Counting manipulatives and sorting them.
  • Materials Needed: Corn, pumpkin, and carrot counters
  • Directions: Help the kids count, sort, and make patterns with the counters.

4. Drumming and Rhythm Activity

  • Activity: Make simple drums from recycled containers (like oatmeal containers) and let children explore different rhythms.
  • Materials Needed: Empty containers, markers, and crayons for decorating.
  • Discussion: Talk about how Native American drumming is often used in ceremonies and dances and represents the heartbeat of the earth.
  • Music Time: Play a recording of traditional Native American drumming and let children try to match the rhythm.

5. Native American Pumpkin Recipes

  1. Activity: Make a basic pumpkin recipe like roasted pumpkin seeds or pumpkin mash.
    • Roasted Pumpkin Seeds: Scoop out seeds from a pumpkin, rinse, and toss them with a little oil and salt. Roast until golden.
    • Pumpkin Mash: Cook diced pumpkin with a little water until soft, then mash it. Add a tiny bit of honey if desired.
    • Traditional Pumpkin Pie: Cook a pumpkin custard inside of a pumpkin like they would have done before they had flour to make pie crust.
  2. Materials Needed: Pumpkin, baking sheet, custard ingredients.
  3. Tasting and Sharing: Let children taste the roasted seeds or pumpkin mash and discuss the flavors.
  4. Other recipes such as corn and turkey soup or grape dumplings can also be made.
Children sitting at tables outdoors, engaged in crafting with clay as part of lesson plans on Native American art and culture.
A child in a blue dinosaur shirt explores the outdoors with clay on a sunny day, inspired by lesson plans on Native American art and culture.

6. Native American Clay Work

  • Activity: Create pinch pots inspired by traditional Native Americans and add patterns, such as geometric shapes, animals, and nature.
  • Materials Needed: Clay, materials for scribing designs in the sides.
  • Discussion: Show examples of Native American art and explain the use of natural elements and symbols in their designs.
  • Craft: Let children create their own art using these styles and shapes.
A wooden mortar with a pestle grinding grain into powder serves as an authentic tool in lesson plans on Native American traditions.
A child in a tie-dye shirt uses a stick to grind something in a wooden mortar outdoors, reminiscent of lesson plans on Native American traditions. In the background, a basketball hoop stands beside colorful chalk drawings, adding charm to this playful scene.

7. Grinding Corn with a Mortar and Pestle or Food Processor

  • Activity: Get some dried corn (Or grow some and dry it) and a mortar and pestle. Let the kids bang the pestle into the mortar and grind the corn into small bits and then flour. Sift out larger pieces that don’t get ground up. This can also be done in a grain grinder or food processor.
  • Materials Needed: Dried dent corn or hominy such as Goya brand
  • Discussion: Talk about how many Native Americans had a corn based diet and used corn for many different things.
  • Recipe: Use the corn meal to make a recipe such as this recipe for corn pone.
A child in a tie-dye shirt eats with a blue spoon from a divided red plate, reminiscent of lesson plans on Native American culture's vibrant colors. A red cup sits nearby, while a window frames the lush greenery outside.

8. Nature Walk and Respect for the Earth

  • Activity: Take a nature walk and encourage children to observe and appreciate different plants, trees, and animals.
  • Discussion: Explain how Native American cultures see the earth as something to respect and care for, teaching children about gratitude and stewardship.
  • Craft: Collect a few small leaves or rocks and make a “Nature Collage” on paper.
Children gather outdoors, engaging in lesson plans on Native American traditions, with one child holding a metal bowl filled with flowers.
Three children gather around a table outdoors, engaging in an interactive lesson plan on Native American culture as they dip a white cloth into a red and white bowl.
Pots on a stove with boiling ingredients: one with red cabbage leaves, another with a yellowish liquid, and a third with dark contents, like a scene from lesson plans on Native American culinary traditions. Steam is visibly rising from the pots.
Three pots containing fabric soak in different colored dyes: red, pink, and beige. These vivid hues could enrich lesson plans on Native American cultures by illustrating traditional dyeing techniques and the symbolic meanings of colors in indigenous artistry.
Colorful shirts hanging to dry on a clothesline in a sunny backyard serve as a vibrant backdrop for crafting lesson plans on Native American history.

9. Making Natural Dyes

  • Activity: Take a nature walk and encourage children to observe and appreciate different plants that have strong colors. Collect a supply of one item to boil the colors out of and make the dye. Strain out the pieces of plant. Make a mordant in another bowl such as salt or vinegar in water. Soak an item in the mordant and then into the hot pan of dye. (See what we used to dye these t-shirts in a post coming soon)
  • Discussion: Explain how Native American cultures see the earth as something to respect and care for, teaching children about gratitude and stewardship. And how they use the resources for what they need.

These lesson plans offer children a respectful, engaging introduction to Native American culture through stories, art, music, and hands-on activities. They help children appreciate the connection Native American communities have with the earth, nature, and tradition, fostering an early sense of respect and curiosity.

For more unique lesson plan ideas, check these out:

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.