African Textiles - Brooklyn Children's Museum

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Activities to do with your studentsACTIVITY 1Introduction to African TextilesGrades: AllRelated ObjectsKente ScarfCloth NapkinWax ResistDyed ClothAdire WrappingClothAdinkra ClothSenegal Cloth“7-Up” ClothStudents will gain an overview of African textile making traditions and begin to explore the trade,craft, and colors of African cloth by closely examining the textiles in the case.Guiding Questions:1. What are textiles?2. What are textiles used for?3. Where do you use textiles?4. Why are textiles important?5. What can textiles tell us about the person wearing them?6. What do the clothes you wear say about you?African Textiles | 12
Activities to do with your studentsMaterialsWorld MapArts of Ghana DVDWhat Can Objects Tell Me? worksheetPencilsWhat To Do1. Write Africa and the United States of America (U.S.A) on theboard in large letters. Ask students to find Africa on the map.Introduce where Africa is (the DVD has two chapters whichshow streets in Accra and a typical market) and how people fromAfrica live around the world including here in New York City.2. Pass out the What Can Objects Tell Me? worksheet. Discuss theways we can learn from objects just by examining them closely.Have students look closely at an article of clothing they arewearing, such as their shirts. Have them consider: How manyparts or sections does your shirt have? Was it made from onepiece of cloth? Ask them to imagine making a shirt from scratch.You may also want to look at the types of shirts people arewearing and ask them to think of the reasons why you mighthave a shirt for special occasions and another one for play.3. Introduce the idea that we can use a similar approach to learnfrom objects we may have never seen before. Explain that theywill be looking closely at examples of African textiles to learnmore about how and why they are made and used.4. Show students a selection of textile pieces from the case. Passthem around one by one. Ask your students to examine thetextiles and share what they see and feel: When you look at thecloth can you draw any conclusions about how it was made?What colors do you see? Does it look familiar to you? Whatdoes the fabric make you think of? What would you make outof it? Which cloth do you like best? Write their impressions onthe board and invite your students to write their notes on theirobject study forms. After all the objects have been examinedask students to compare them: How would you describe thedifferences between the patterns?Try this alternative For younger students or students with special needs use theWhat Can Objects Tell Me? worksheet as a lesson review and have students fill in theboxes with verbal responses.African Textiles | 13
Page 6: information for the teacherWelcome!
Page 14 and 15: African TextilesWhat Can Objects Te
Page 16 and 17: Activities to do with your students
Page 20 and 21: African TextilesKente Strips© 2008
Page 24 and 25: African TextilesAdire DesignsMethod
Page 28 and 29: African TextilesAdinkra Cloth Desig
Page 32 and 33: Resources & Reference MaterialsVoca
Page 34 and 35: Resources & Reference MaterialsReso

African Textiles - Brooklyn Children's Museum

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