Crafts on the Cultures of Africa, China, India, Israel, Japan
Most of our geography crafts are listed in chronological order, but not the ones here. These are projects based on a particular world culture, and not necessarily an historical time period.
Browse below for geography crafts on world cultures in general, and then Africa, China, India, Israel, and Japan.
General Crafts: World Cultures
Learning About Cultures by Teaching & Learning.
The World is Our Neighborhood by Evan-Moor.
World Civilizations and Cultures by Mark Twain Media.
Geography Crafts: Africa
Design your own African mask! Or print and color these pre-drawn masks.
Geography Crafts: China
Click here for Paper Lantern instructions.
This Chinese dragon is slightly complex, and looks great! For a much simpler Chinese Dragon for younger elementary ages, try this one made from a paper chain!
Make and fly a Dragon kite.
Print this Dragon boat to cut and color!
Use the instructions for a Chinese fan taken from this card designed by Canon!
Disney’s Family Fun gives us lots of very nice resources to celebrate the Chinese New Year! Check out their attractive Chinese crafts, Chinese food, and Chinese printables for kids!
For a simple project on China, cut ivory paper in half lengthwise. Have child glue a popsicle stick to the top & bottom of the strip to create a long scroll. Use guides for Writing Chinese Numbers to walk the child(ren) through each number. Have them use a brush and black paint, and draw their characters from top to bottom, then right to left.
Geography Crafts: India
This site has a variety of crafts on India in general, including a Diwali lamp, Rangoli, the Indian elephant, and an Indian slipper.
Find some great ideas here for making Rangoli with kids using a variety of materials and some kid-friendly designs.
The peacock is India’s national bird! Learn to draw a peacock here, or create one with colored paper here!
Geography Crafts: Israel
Weave a Star of David with yarn. Or try this version of the craft for younger kids.
This site shows how to make a Star of David out of Pipe Cleaners. You need to scroll down the page to see these, since it is part of a longer list of holiday decor items.
This Star of David is made from strips of colorful paper. Nice & easy! Or you could go with the traditional Craft Sticks version!
Download this Star of David template and use String Art Techniques to make it! If you’re not familiar with String Art, clidk here for basic how-to instructions for String Art and adapt it to make a Star.
Geography Crafts: Japan
Create one of these origami spinning tops from Canon Papercraft. For older students, try the Kumamoto Castle or the Shuri Castle.
Celebrate the Seasons within the Japanese culture from these papercraft models from Yamaha.
Make Japanese paper dolls out of posterboard and construction paper. These are really nice!
At this page from the San Diego Museum of Art, scroll down and click on the Kimono-Inspired Landscape Collage. This is for older elementary students up to junior high & high school.
Please e-mail us with any links to add to this collection!
