Basket Weaving

Ask students to bring empty, washed-bleach bleach bottles to class.  Cut the top half off each bottle and cut an odd number of 2" strips down the sides of the bottles. Explain to students that Native Americans often used natural materials--such as twigs, bark, and grass--to weave roofs, floor coverings, clothing, hats, and baskets.  Give each student a cut bottle and a ball of yarn.  Demonstrate how to weave the yarn through the cut bottle, continually pushing the woven yarn toward the bottom of the strips (to keep the plastic from showing.) When students have woven yarn up to the top of the bottle, have them tie off the end of the yarn to finish the basket.  Invite students to store in their baskets favorite school items, such as pencils, erasers, and markers.

Courtesy of the Warren County Historical Society