Make a Sundial
Place a stick in the ground. At 9 a.m., mark the end of the stick's shadow with a pebble. At 10 a.m., do this again until school is out (or do it at home on a weekend). The next day you have a sundial to use.
Read Books of Coyote Stories
Discuss Coyote's character and how it is similar throughout the various tribes (trickster, buffoon, but he occasionally gives something to the people). Make workbooks of the stories with a page (illustrated, if possible) for the title, tribal origin, setting, characters, events (in order), problem, and solution.
Make Up Coyote Stories
One variation is to have them write (independently) different sections of the story. A rough plot could be proposed. Then one group (or person) writes the introduction, another the problem set-up, another the climax, and another the end of the story. Someone reads the assembled story. Kids love the unintentional silliness.
Make Pots
Quarry
and process your own clay (this requires soaking 4-6 weeks prior to
using and adding temper of sand). Impatient? Instead, buy
self-hardening clay at a crafts store. Knead to remove air bubbles.
Make a wide, shallow cup from clay ball (approximately 3-4" diameter)
for pot base. Make coils by rolling clay on flat surface or rolling
between palms (can be thin or thick). Build pot wall (various shapes)
by adding coils one at a time, pinching onto last one. Level the top
edge by trimming or adding clay as necessary.
Try various
methods of smoothing your pots. Examples of smoothing
follow. The Mountain People's, Hopi's and the People of the Far North's
method of smoothing (Mogollon and Ancestral Puebloan): scrape interior
and exterior with smooth potsherd, or hard rubber scraper. Canal
People's method (Hohokam): hold a smooth rock on inside and gently slap
exterior with wooden paddle.
Paint using yucca brushes with beeweed plant, boiled and aged for
several years. Impatient? Use store-bought paint. Dry pots slowly,
preferably in slightly opened plastic bags to avoid cracking. If rim is
drying too fast, invert pot.
Normally, the pots would be fired in pits of burning wood, or in
historic times, the dung of horse, cow, or sheep.
