Polynesian Prints and Patterns

This weekend the Na Pua No'eau program, a non-profit organization that provides Hawaiian studies for  school age children, did a fun art project with the kids of Lana'i.  I signed my son up to participate and since I want to learn as much about the Hawaiian culture as possible, I volunteered to help!

The class focused on the definition of symbol, motif, and pattern, and how Polynesians used these in their art and designs.

We attached foam stickers onto tongue depressors for kids to use as stamps.

Here are native Polynesian stamps, carved out of wood:

Source

We put the paint on the plates flipped upside down, to make it easier to stamp.

Kids stamped on crumpled paper bag paper, since real tapa (or kapa, depending on which part of the Pacific you are in) is super hard to make.

Here's a tutorial for making it from sacks:

http://www.ehow.com/how_7350471_make-tapa-cloth-paper-sacks.html

Here is my finished wall hanging for my classroom!

Next, kids made a tapa paper bag cover for the folktale Maui: The Proud Kitemaker.  You can read the story here.

Kids glued their tapa cloth onto a piece of cardstock.

Then they glued the story inside the cover.

Here is my finished story.  I stamped some squares and leaves on it.

If you want to teach about art from around the world, I highly suggest teaching about Polynesian and Hawaiian art!  The wall hanging and book were fun, used materials you should already have lying around, and taught the kids some great art skills!

If you do decide to teach about Hawaiian art, head on over to my TpT store and snag my freebie Hawaiian Song Book:

And my paid Hawaiian Color Posters:

What do you like to do for art time in your classroom?