Paper tepees are perfect for prekindergarten and kindergarten students. They don't need a great deal of coordination to construct the tepee and the simple design is easier for them to put together. Simply have them cut out a semicircle from a piece of construction paper or tag board. They can decorate it as they choose with markers, crayons and paint. Glue the sides together so that it makes a cone and add toothpicks to the top.
This tepee is suitable for children in the first grade and older. Gather four small sticks or twigs to use as supports for the tepee. Tie them together at the top and spread the bottoms out so that the twigs can stand on their own. Use one side of the twig structure to trace a triangle and then draw the triangle on a brown paper bag. Add three more contiguous triangles so that your shape resembles a cone that has been taken apart and flattened. Decorate the paper, then cut out a space for the door. Use the pencil marks on the triangles as folding lines, then tape the two sides together. Cut off the top of the tepee and insert the twigs.
Use a diorama to help children visualize what a Plains Indian community might look like. For an older student, you might use some type of animal skin for the tepee instead of paper or paper bags. Assist your child in researching the nomadic lifestyle before you decide what items to include in the diorama. The tribe had to be ready to move quickly, so the figures and their belongings might illustrate this necessity. Have your student attach a fact sheet or report about what they learned.
Use the Native American lesson for cross-curricular activities. Activities that stretch across a variety of subjects help students apply the information they have been learning. Incorporate math into the history lesson by having students create scale drawings of tepees. They must then use their scale drawing to make a model tepee. For language arts, students can create reports about the lifestyle of the Plains Indians, the construction of the tepee or the symbols that were used to decorate tepees.