Totem poles, tall wooden poles carved into animals, faces etc, are an amazing decorative tradition among various indigenous populations around the world, most famously with Native Americans in the US. It’s a long and fascinating tradition of symbolic design, but even without getting into details – these are always great looking pieces that really make you think.
Today we’re going to find inspiration in totem poles to create one ourselves as a DIY project! This can be really fun craft to make with kids, and give them an opportunity to express themselves. You don’t need too much materials and it’s not hard to create – which makes it a perfect activity for a fun afternoon!
Materials
-Long cardboard rolls, for instance leftovers from saran wrap
-Colorful pipe cleaners
-Googly eyes
-Markers, glitter glue or anything else you can draw with
-Glue
-Any other decorative items
Instructions
First of all we need to prepare the wings – those will be hard to install after we’ve started messing around with glue. Using scissors, cut two adjacent holes on one end of the roll, near the edge.
Now insert one pipe cleaner between them and shape it as two wings, ending back in the two holes to keep it in place.
Next we insert the eyes, to split the ‘pole’ into three (or how many ever you like!) creatures. Use strong glue so they don’t fall off!
And now, finally, it’s time to decorate! We went for our favorite craft material ever, glitter glue, and created various decorations – you can color, draw a face, draw shapes and patterns and whatever else comes to mind. Ta da!
How did your totem pole come out and where did you place it??
Share tips in the comment and images on our Facebook Page and you might get featured!