Native American History for Teachers - Classroom Activities
These are Free activities and project ideas for kids and teachers to use in your unit study of American Indians. These activities can be adjusted for any grade. We hope you'll find some you can use.
Totem Pole Art using collage (4th grade) - clever and beautiful (Thomas Elementary), this is the lesson plan that goes with this art: Lesson Plan, 4th grade
Make a Totem bookmark, lesson plan (Donn)
Native American Art Projects and Designs for Kids
Native American Arts 4th grade - activity ideas
Create a secret message using these symbols, or some you select. Have kids create a short secret message. Hand completed messages to the child behind them, the last child in a row brings their message to the first person in the row (or in front of you, or however your class is set up.) Have kids decipher the message they are holding. Symbol Stories (Donn)
Print-out: Color a Pow-Wow drum
Instructions: Make a Pow-Wow Drum and Drum Beater
Pow-Wow fact sheets for Kids and Teachers
Artifact Bingo - print out, with instructions
The Turtle, free coloring page, this symbol is seen in many tribes across the U.S. Put it with a Native American turtle myth, and you have a lesson plan
The Bear, free coloring page, this symbol is seen in many tribes across the U.S.
Lesson Plans: Native Americans in North America
Northeast Region of the United States and Canada Lesson Plans and Activities
Southeast Region of the United States Lesson Plans and Activities
Great Plains Region of the United States Lesson Plans and Activities
Southwest Region of the United States Lesson Plans and Activities
Pacific Coastal Region of the United States and Canada Lesson Plans and Activities
Inland Plateau Region of the United States Lesson Plans and Activities
North and Arctic Region of Canada and the United States Lesson Plans and Activities
Lesson Plans: Native Americans in Central and South America
The Incredible Incas - Lesson Plans, Activities, Games, Powerpoints, Learning Modules for Kids
The Mysterious Mayas - Lesson Plans, Activities, Games, Powerpoints, Learning Modules for Kids
The Awesome Aztecs - Lesson Plans, Activities, Games, PowerPoints, Learning Modules for Kids
For Kids
Native American Stories, Myths, and Legends
Free Games about Native Americans in the US and Canada
Return to Native Americans in Olden Times for Kids
Native Americans for Kids
Native Americans in US, Canada, and the Far North
Early people of North America (during the ice age 40,000 years ago)
Northeast Woodland Tribes and Nations - The Northeast Woodlands include all five great lakes as well as the Finger Lakes and the Saint Lawrence River. Come explore the 3 sisters, longhouses, village life, the League of Nations, sacred trees, snowsnake games, wampum, the arrowmaker, dream catchers, night messages, the game of sep and more. Special Sections: Iroquois Nation, Ojibwa/Chippewa, The Lenape Indians. Read two myths: Wise Owl and The Invisible Warrior.
Southeast Woodland Tribes and Nations - The Indians of the Southeast were considered members of the Woodland Indians. The people believed in many deities, and prayed in song and dance for guidance. Explore the darkening land, battle techniques, clans and marriage, law and order, and more. Travel the Trail of Tears. Meet the Muscogee (Creek), Chickasaw, Choctaw, Mississippians, Seminole Indians and Cherokee Indians.
Plains Indians - What was life like in what is now the Great Plains region of the United States? Some tribes wandered the plains in search of foods. Others settled down and grew crops. They spoke different languages. Why was the buffalo so important? What different did horses make? What was coup counting? Who was Clever Coyote? Meet the Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Comanche, Pawnee, and Sioux Nation.
Southwest Indians - Pueblo is not the name of a tribe. It is a Spanish word for village. The Pueblo People are the decedents of the Anasazi People. The Navajo and the Apache arrived in the southwest in the 1300s. They both raided the peaceful Pueblo tribes for food and other goods. Who were the Devil Dancers? Why are blue stones important? What is a wickiup? Who was Child of Water?
Pacific Coastal Northwest Indians - What made some of the Pacific Northwest Indian tribes "rich" in ancient times? Why were woven mats so important? How did totem poles get started? What was life like in the longhouse? What were money blankets and coppers? How did the fur trade work? How did Raven Steal Crow's Potlatch?
Inland Plateau People - About 10,000 years ago, different tribes of Indians settled in the Northwest Inland Plateau region of the United States and Canada, located between two huge mountain ranges - the Rockies and the Cascades. The Plateau stretches from BC British Columbia all the way down to nearly Texas. Each village was independent, and each had a democratic system of government. They were deeply religious and believed spirits could be found everything - in both living and non-living things. Meet the Nez Perce
California Indians - The Far West was a land of great diversity. Death Valley and Mount Whitney are the highest and lowest points in the United States. They are within sight of each other. Tribes living in what would become California were as different as their landscape.
Native Americans of the Far North: What trick did the Kutchin people use to catch their enemies? How did these early people stop ghosts from entering their homes? Why was the shaman so powerful? What is a finger mask? Play games! See and hear an old Inuit myth! Enter the mystical world of the people who lived in the far north in olden times. Algonquian/Cree, Athapascan/Kutchin, Central Canada, Inuit, The Shaman
Comparison Chart (Europeans & Indians)