History in Quilts

Creating story quilts is a great way to combine art, social studies and literature. Kids select a story, a published one or one of their own, to illustrate, paint on a canvas square, embellish, and mount on a felt backing.

Class members get a chance to practice the art of Mehndi as they use markets to apply patterns to a latex glove.

Considering using The Josefina Story Quilt in your classroom? Check out this sample teaching guide for a list of pre-reading activities.

"Native American history leaps boldly off the colorful quilts and patchwork designs." Learners discuss Native American identity and symbolism by reading about a variety of Native quilters and their unique art process, and participate in...

Learn the art of quilting with this lesson plan that can be connected to a history instructional activity on quilts in Ancient Egypt, China, and modern art. After studying a general history of quilts, its uses, and the history of...

Emmulate some of Faith Ringgolds famous painted story quilts in your classroom. Have your class choose a story or you choose one for the whole class to portray. They will select their favorite scene to paint onto their story quilt. What...

An art history detective; I want to be one of those! The class puts their heads together to hone their deductive and critical thinking skills in order to determine which Native American tribe created and used parfleche boxes. They'll use...

The intent of this unit is to demonstrate some of the traditional arts of the Middle East. Extensive background information on the religion, culture, and nature of Islamic art found throughout the Middle East is provided. Each of the...

Just like a painting or the symbols on a flag, quilts can express ideas that reflect a cultural context, space, and time. The class discusses the history of quilt making throughout US history and what different types of quilts mean. They...