How To Make a Dream Catcher
If you’re looking for a fun craft for kids that also teaches about another culture, consider setting aside a time to create dreamcatchers. Dreamcatchers are artistic, not too difficult for little hands to make, and hold beautiful Native American symbolism about the importance of protecting children.
Gather Supplies
Don’t get caught without everything you need, so gather up what you can around the house and then buy craft supplies online. For this project, you need plain white paper plates, a single hole punch, yarn, pony beads, glitter pens, feathers, markers or crayons, and tape.
Prep the Materials
Carefully cut the inner circle out of the paper plate leaving just the rim. Punch a hole at the top to hang the dream catcher when it’s finished and thread this with a small loop of yarn. Punch about six holes equidistant from each other along the inside circle of the plate. Lay down newspaper over your work area and call in the artists!
Decorate
Hand out markers or crayons to decorate the inner side of the plate rim. For added finesse, dot glitter around the border.
Weave
The Ojibwe people believed that a Spider-Woman wove a web of protection over all the infants in her care. With this story in mind, cut a long piece of yarn and tape it to the back of the plate. As your child weaves it back and forth across the plate, have them occasionally add a pony bead for texture. These beads represent the protection charms that were woven into every dreamcatcher. After a nice net is formed, let the last piece of yarn hang down the front.
Attach a Feather
Thread a final bead or two onto the remaining section of yarn. (If there isn’t enough yarn left, tape the small piece to the back of the plate and tie a longer piece to the bottom of the plate.) Wrap the end of the yarn around the end of a feather and tape or glue to secure. Feathers represent the stairway by which good dreams can make their way down to the sleeping children. Additional feathers can also be tied to different lengths of yarn and attached to the bottom part of the plate.
Authentic dreamcatchers are handmade of willow and other natural products rather than paper plates and pony beads. However, having your child make their own dreamcatcher while teaching them about its origins is a great way to honor Native American tradition.
