We are incapable of doing any kind of study without at least attempting to create some dress up. I did keep it simple though and ordered five cheap t-shirts for just over £1 each. I chose brown and a large size for all. The older children could wear them as tops whilst the younger girls could wear them as dresses. Ultimately I wanted to recreate the following Ojibwe dress I found on the Minnesota Historical Foundation:
We had t-shirts, large sharp scissors and beads:
We cut the hems off each of the t-shirts:
And cut thin strips upwards from the bottom:
We then threaded the beads onto each strip. One bead per strip and then tied a knot to keep it from falling off. This was a great activity because even my younger two could join in:
Here is a close up of the beaded hem:
And B3 modelling her half-finished one:
Next we cut off the sleeve hems, cut strips into the remaining hems and threaded beads, knotting each one to secure:
I used a scarf as a make-shift belt until we make one. Here is the basic costume finished:
Over the next few weeks we will be adding bits and pieces to the costume to give it a more authentically Ojibwe look. But even without these accessories this dress up has been a hit!
Such a great, simple idea. B looks soo cute!
Thanks Marie!
Wow! That is absolutely fantastic. It’s totally doable, too. I love it.
Really easy, even for the little ones. Now we just need to make them a bit more Ojibwe-an!
How excellent and fun. We’re done with our Little House year, but I bet my girls would love to revisit American Indians again by doing this little project.
Thank you Ruth.
Love your costume! The little are adorable, as usual. 🙂
She’s gorgeous, isn’t she? And very, very cheeky!
Fantastic, Claire! (Must do it with my kids!)
B3 is the cutest squaw, I´ve ever seen! Thanks for sharing your idea.
LOL! Thank you Karin, it is probably the easiest dress up we’ve ever made.
Those look so simple! Saving for next time we’re studying Indians 🙂
Really simple and really inexpensive, which is always useful when you have five children!
You know when I was a kid I had a costume made almost exactly like that. Except we also drew designs on my “dress” with markers. It was a Halloween costume.
We’ll be decorating ours too but I’m not sure what with yet!
Love it! B3 is ADORABLE! Great idea and so simple. Your dress-ups are always so fantastic. I afraid I am not that creative.
Have a lovely week, Claire. Hugs sent to you.:)
This was so simple and inexpensive, definitely one of our easiest so far.
Hugs back to youxx
I agree with everyone that this project is wonderful. Are you going to making a costume for your son? I am sure my boys would like an Indian costume.
T has one as well. We will adding more to them as time goes by.