What you need:
- paper plate
- hole punch
- colored feathers
- string or yarn
What to do:
- With your child, cut out the center of a paper plate, leaving a wide rim. Ask her to mark dots spaced about two inches apart on the rim and to help you punch a hole at each dot.
- Tie one end of the yarn to one of the holes and show your child how to sew back and forth across the center of the plate, forming a web. She can then weave small feathers into the center of the web.
- As she works, tell her the story of the dream catcher: Native American legend has it that when you hang a dream catcher over your bed, it catches the good dreams in the web and lets the bad ones move through. The good dreams then float through the web and down the feather to the sleeper below. Ask your child how she thinks "dream-catching" works.
- Leave about eight inches of yarn hanging. Ask your child to thread a few beads onto it, then tie a thick triple knot in the yarn's end and ask your child to slide the end of a feather quill into the bead closest to the knot. Hang the dream catcher in her room. Sweet dreams!