|
Subjects
|
Grades K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12 |
Brief Description
Students create natural dyes from plants.
Objectives
Students
Keywords
art, botany, dye, fabric, natural, plants
Materials Needed
Lesson Plan
For centuries, people have used plants as a source of natural fabric dyes. Explore some of the history of using plants as dyes at History of Dyes from 2600 B.C. to the 20th Century. Wool is one of the most commonly dyed materials, but in this activity, students will create dyes for white cotton T-shirts. Students each might bring an old T-shirt from home, or several old T-shirts can be cut into 10-inch squares and each student given a single square to dye.
Gather plants that will make good sources of dye. Those plants might include coreopsis, goldenrod, onion skins, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, spinach, beets, rhododendron leaves, acorns, marigolds, red cabbage, elderberries, black-eyed Susans, bloodroot, and many others. (Additional Resources below will provide information about other sources of natural dyes, parts of plants that work best, times for simmering materials to create dyes, and more.)
The Web site Making Natural Dyes from Plants provides the best information for producing dyes. Following is a summary of another simple process:
Warning: Always take special care when using a stove with or around children. If children take their T-shirts home, send a note to parents not to wash the shirts with other clothing. The shirts should be washed by hand.
Have students write one-page papers telling what they learned about how people throughout history used plants as dyes. The paragraphs should include a brief and accurate description of the process used to extract dye from plants.
Display the variety of colors that you produced from plants on a bulletin board.
Additional Resources
You might use the following online resources to support your lesson plan:
Assessment
Evaluate students on their written presentations and their participation in the classroom activity.
Lesson Plan Source
Education World
Submitted By
Gary Hopkins
National Standards
FINE ARTS: Visual Arts
See more lessons in the following Education World articles: