Dreamcatcher

• Kids of all ages like the story of the dream catcher, which keeps bad dreams away at night when hung over a child's bed. It's easy to make them at home with thin, bendable twigs and basic craft supplies. Bend a twig into a circle, and fasten its two ends together with thin wire wound around them. An adult can do that part if needed. Then, tie a few feet of string, twine, yarn or ribbon to a spot on the hoop and string beads on it. Wrap the string around the hoop's other side, slightly off center, so that the middle of the circle stays open. Add more beads and do the same on another side of the hoop, and continue this process until you have a webbing of string and beads inside the circle. Then add dangling strings or ribbons from the bottom of the hoop, with a few beads hanging on them. Tie feathers to the bottom of these. Add a wire or string loop at the top for hanging.
  
  

Sand Painting

• Many Navajo religious rituals rely on the use of sand painting as a magical act, but you can make a beautiful craft at home that mimics this ancient art. Find several varieties of colored sand at craft stores. Use a piece of white cardboard, or glue white paper to regular cardboard, to make a flat, blank surface on which to create your sand painting. Mix up a bowl of white glue thinned with water; it should be liquid enough that you can apply it with a paintbrush to the cardboard. To begin, make the background: paint the whole surface with the glue and sprinkle on the background color of sand evenly. Let this dry before starting on the next layer. When it is ready, use the paintbrush and glue to trace the areas or pattern where you want the next color to be, and then sprinkle it on. Do the same with the remaining colors. When you're done, you can use a spray glue or shellac to fix it all in place.
  
  

Cardboard Indian Chief

• This kids' craft can be made with either a paper cup or a cardboard toilet paper roll. You will also need a few regular craft supplies, including felt, foam and paints. Glue a craft foam or Styrofoam ball to the top of the roll or the small end of an upturned paper cup, to make the body and head. Paint the head a pale brown and use dark brown for the body. While this is drying, you can make some of the other parts: For a chest piece or collar, snip a fringe around three sides of a square of brown foam or felt, and decorate it with beads, buttons or craft paint. Cut a length of ribbon for a belt, and cut a length of felt or foam for a headband, and decorate these with paints as well. You can add feathers to the headband with little scraps of felt or foam glued on top of it. Make foam arms and hands, and glue these on the sides of the cup or roll. Glue on the chest piece and ribbon, and glue on black yarn or wool for hair. Top with the headband, either draw eyes or glue on wiggly eyes, and finish by drawing the rest of the Indian man's face.