Description: God’s Eyes are created in certain cultures as gifts to children coming of age, or for another’s home. Although meanings differ from culture to culture, God’s Eyes generally symbolize an understanding of the unknown, helping us respect differences.
Project Ideas: respecting differences, multicultural, intrapersonal
Author: Lesson plan – Judith Vasquez
Grade level or Target Age Range: 1st – 3rd grade (can be adapted to a younger age)
Historical Art Examples or References:
Youtube – a great video of intricate God’s Eye weavings
Youtube – a God’s eye demonstration
Vocabulary: Symmetry, asymmetry, flow, pattern, proportion, unity
Materials: Popsicle sticks and yarn (any color can be used)
Anticipatory Set: When a person comes of age, what kind of celebration or gift does he/she receive?
Demo/Directions:
- Introduce the project and explain its background.
- Hand out materials while showing the example.
- Ask the older children to help younger children if needed.
- Glue or tie the sticks together.
- Demonstrate the weaving technique that will be used.
Once done, have the children present their different creations. Talk about how something easily created can have a deeper meaning and be shared with others.
Discussion: Life applications; how the lesson might apply to non-art related experiences or other types of knowledge.
- Sharing something meaningful through an object
- Understanding of different cultures and others.
Instructional Reflection: Which instructional tools or strategies interested or helped these students learn most? What additional techniques tools or materials could be used to better support student learning? What adaptations could be made to this lesson for students with different needs levels or skill sets?
- If the age group varies greatly, the group can be separated by age to better instruct or help them.