Totem pole

Totem pole

1. Gather your materials. Before starting, gather some pictures of totem poles and explain that totem poles were used for different reasons such as to tell legends, record history and sometimes just for art. They were made out of large trees which were carved and painted. The word totem comes from an Ojibwe word that means family group. You will need many colors of construction paper. Scrap paper is great, although you will need one large piece for the wings. You will also need a piece of plain white paper, a paper towel roll, glue, scissors, a marker, a paper punch, and some colorful markers. You may also want some tape to keep things in place while the glue dries.

2. Start by coloring the white paper, older children can make patterns while younger ones can just go for it.

3. While they color, cut out eyes, long strips for faces, noses...the sky is the limit. We cut out 3 pairs of eyes, some eyebrows, a few noses, and mouths.

4. Cut out wings and set aside.

5. Cut small feathers from the scrap paper. Set aside.

6. When children are done coloring, wrap the white paper around the paper towel roll. Trim if needed. Set aside.

7. Start gluing on the totem animal faces. Although we didn't decide exactly which animals we were making beforehand, as we glued them on we decided on a raven, a frog and a seagull. Not sure there are many seagulls on real totem poles but that's OK.

8. Glue the feathers on the wings.

9. Glue the wings on the pole and let dry.

Allison McDonald

has been teaching young children in various capacities since 1993. She started as a day camp leader in high school, taught various preschool programs at community centers through university, worked as a tutor while pursuing a second degree in elementary education, and most recently worked as a director and preschool teacher before becoming a full time mom. Now that she is at home she keeps one foot in education while sharing that side of her life with her son and the results have been amazing.

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