Sunday, January 2, 2011

Buffalo Hide Craft

After we read The Buffalo Storm by Katherine Applegate (you can read my review in yesterday's post), we learned a little about the American buffalo, or the bison.
  • they can run at speeds up to 30 mph!
  • the bison almost went extinct in the late 1800s due to over-hunting
  • the males are bulls and the females are cows
  • they live 12-15 years on average
  • they are herbivores and swallow their food without chewing it to later regurgitate a cud and chew it (my kids love this)
  • the Native American tribe known as the Cheyenne followed the revered buffalo herds that were a source of food, shelter, and clothing and were essential for their survival

C and R made replicas of the buffalo robes worn by the Cheyenne on the plains.


They began by drawing backgrounds on blue card stock. 


I cut the buffalo hide shape out of brown paper bags.  To make them look authentic, we wet the paper bag shapes and crumpled them.


Once they were dry, C and R tore the edges a bit and glued them onto their backgrounds.  I had to do most of the tearing for R, but C did almost all of it himself.


8 comments:

An Almost Unschooling Mom said...

I like this craft! A nearby rancher's herd of domesticated bison got loose, a couple of years ago, and were running down the highway - so we got a glimpse of a "wild" herd. We also visited a buffalo jump when we were on the dinosaur trail. They must have been an awesome sight to see in large numbers, running free.

Anonymous said...

Great craft! It looks like you have a wonderful study going. My mother took us to Oregon to see the Oregon Trail ruts when I was a teen. It was so interesting.

Kelly said...

Ok, so I meant to say Wyoming, not Oregon (Oregon on the brain)to see the Oregon Trail Ruts. Still very interesting!

Sherri said...

I have never been to Oregon, but I am taking the whole family in April. I need to study the Oregon trail!
Great craft!!!!!

Debbie said...

I love this craft. I loved seeing the buffalo near Wallowa though they were on open farm lands. My Dad's family traveled the Oregon Trail and homesteaded in the mountains in the Wallowa National Forest. That must have been quite a site in those days to see such herds of buffalo running free.

Natalie PlanetSmarty said...

I've never seen a buffalo in the wild - it must be quite a sight judging from the pictures our friend brought back from the trip to Yellowstone. Great craft!

Ticia said...

That was one of my favorite projects as a kid. Except we had to make it look like leather by crumpling it and running on the edges of hte desk and generally roughing it up.

April said...

ok, I think you are creeping into my mind at night. Thank you for blogging this. I was thinking of a buffalo project and I was wondering if I could find some kind of fabric in my scraps to do a "hide" project but this would be perfect. We are going to see buffalos in a week!