Ghana: Kente Cloth Weaving

Our next visit on our Arts Around the World tour brought us to Ghana, which is located on the western coast of Africa. We learned that it is hot and humid in Ghana and the capital city is Accra. 

We also learned about Kente cloth, a woven traditional fabric. Kente cloth began in the Ashanti Kingdom and was originally worn by royalty. It is woven by men and is known for its bold designs. Over time, it became more popular and now it is worn by many people, not just royalty. 

When looking at examples of Kente cloth, students noticed the bright colors, geometric designs with rectangles and zig zags, and the patterns in the fabric. Students also connected it to learning about weaving in 1st grade. To begin making our own Kente cloth, students painted a piece of paper with colorful stripes and added patterns with lines and dots to create their loom. Students also painted two sheets of colored paper with a simple pattern of lines using black paint. 

We revisited the process of weaving with construction paper before cutting the painted paper we made to weave with. Students recalled the over and under motion of each woven piece, and students used their painted paper to make their loom and the pieces to weave across. 

It was wonderful to see just how many students remembered the technique of weaving from last year! Students also helped each other once they were finished. Below are some examples of our colorful Kente cloth inspired weaving!

Christopher, 2nd Grade (Pearse)

Gabrielly, 2nd Grade (McCarthy)

Kiana, 2nd Grade (O'Connor)

Lucia, 2nd Grade (Hinds Thiemann)

Meri, 2nd Grade (McCarthy)

Nico, 2nd Grade (Pearse)

Noah, 2nd Grade (Pearse)

Thiago, 2nd Grade (Pearse)

Zoie, 2nd Grade (Hinds Thiemann)

Kente Cloth from Ghana

Our next visit on our Arts Around the World tour brought us to Ghana, which is located on the western coast of Africa. We learned that it is hot and humid in Ghana and the capital city is Accra.

We also learned about Kente cloth, a woven traditional fabric. Kente cloth began in the Ashanti Kingdom and was originally worn by royalty. It is woven by men and is known for its bold designs. Over time, it became more popular and now it is worn by many. When looking at examples of Kente cloth, students noticed the bright colors, geometric designs with rectangles and zig zags, and the patterns in the fabric. Students also connected it to learning about weaving in 1st grade.

To begin making our own Kente cloth, students painted two sheets of colored paper with a simple pattern of lines.

The following class, students painted a piece of paper with colorful stripes and added patterns with lines and dots to create their loom. We practiced the process of weaving with construction paper before cutting the painted paper we made to weave with.

Students recalled the over and under motion of each woven piece, with the warp going vertically and the weft going across. Once they practiced with construction paper, students used their painted paper to make their loom and the pieces to weave across.

Once they were finished, they glued down the edges of each strip. We finished up with a gallery walk to see everyone's Kente cloth weaving. We noticed that they are all very colorful and that everyone's is different. In their Passports, students wrote what they learned about Kente cloth, recalling that they have colorful patterns, that they are woven on a loom, and that they were once worn by royalty in Ghana. Below are some examples of our colorful Kente cloth inspired weaving!

Julia H., 2nd Grade (O'Connor)

Edmond, 2nd Grade (McCarthy)

Arianne, 2nd Grade (McCarthy)

Aliah, 2nd Grade (McCarthy)

James, 2nd Grade (O'Leary)

Angelina, 2nd Grade (Pearse)

Chris, 2nd Grade (McCarthy)

Weaving

Recently, artists in 1st and 2nd grades have been weaving with paper. In 2nd grade we looked at images of Kente cloth, from Ghana, which we noticed have patterns and are woven in bright colors.

In 1st grade we looked at Mexican serapes, or blankets, and noticed the bright colors and patterns in these textiles, as well.

We began by making our own paper looms and used strips of paper, which we also cut ourselves, to weave them through the loom. We made sure to keep in mind to have the lines alternate, over and under, to create our pattern. 

We then added more interest and layers to our weaving, using lines and shapes. We got to use fun scissors with different edges that let us cut different kinds of lines. We thought about color combinations that would work well in our weaving.

An optional last step was to add strings at the ends, using a hole puncher to make the holes and looping yarn through to tie at the ends. Below are some examples of our weavings. Some of them are now displayed in the glass case on the first floor near the main office, so be sure to check them out!

Patrick, 2nd Grade

Jaylyn, 2nd Grade