It is a common misconception that the Mojave Indians lived in teepees. These round tents were used for communal meetings. There was often a large fire in the center. The teepee's opening in the center allowed the smoke to escape. For your students to re-create a teepee, provide them with popsicle sticks. Your students will need to lean the popsicle sticks together in a triangular frame. There should be one popsicle stick in the middle for stability. Then, with a piece of string, the students should tie the top to secure the frame. Give them brown fabric or have the students crinkle brown paper and wrap it around the frame.
This project can be entertaining but also quite messy. Create a mud hut using popsicle sticks, mud and straw. You will also need to provide dirt, water and buckets. Use an area of the playground outside for this project, since the mess will be hard to clean in the classroom. In the empty bucket, mix some dirt and water. There should be more dirt than water to make it thick. Add the straw or hay to help the mixture become thick like dough. While you are doing this, have your students create the frames for the huts using the popsicle sticks and non-toxic glue. The frames should be square. The sticks should cover the entire side of a structure and look similar to a log cabin. This will allow the mud to adhere to the frame. They can then spread the mud onto the popsicle-stick foundation. Do not have your students put the mud on the top of the frame; rather, have them create a roof out of the extra straw or hay. Let the mud dry.
If you have a rather large class, have the students join in groups to create a hut. This promotes teamwork. Provide your groups different examples of a Mojave home and also give each student a certain job to do. For example, one student can draw a plan of the frame while the other builds it. Another will create the roof and so on. Once the each of the groups finish their homes, you can make an model-sized Mojave Indian village.
Students can also make tents or huts entirely out of hay. Provide the students popsicle sticks along with thick strands of hay. Have each student create a frame, whether it be a square frame or teepee shaped, and have each glue the hay onto the frame. Make sure that there is newspaper to prevent the glue from falling onto the desks and creating a mess.