Pueblo Storyteller Dolls

The last unit of third grade was all about storytelling. Riley's class learned and retold stories from different parts of the world. He picked a Laotian tale about a turtle who fell from the sky while he was migrating from one pond to another on a stick held by two birds; the teleological tale explained why men's armpits stink and women's don't. Cute.

The other third grade class made Pueblo storyteller dolls out of clay. Apparently, Riley really, really, really wanted to make one when he saw his friend Trinity's doll.

So this morning he asked me to make some clay that we could bake in the oven. It took me all day to get around to it - after haircuts, cleaning, and laundry - but while Jake was grilling chicken for dinner, I whipped out the salt dough and the boys got to work.

Riley explained that the Pueblo dolls were formed out of holllow cylinders. I'm still not sure why; he was more interested in making his doll than actually explaining the process, or so I thought. But when I kept asking, he finally said, "Mom, the other class learned about these, not me. But I know that this is how the other class did it." Fair enough.

He is so proud of his creation. We are waiting for it to air dry, then we will finish hardening it in the oven and he will paint it. By then, hopefully, I'll have done some reading on these Pueblo storyteller dolls. Or if anyone wants to give me the skinny on these dolls, please enlighten me.

I love what the boys learn in school, especially how they carry those lessons home with them and then teach me!  I'll post photos of his final product when it's baked and painted. For now, here's Riley's Pueblo storyteller doll.

Dylan wasn't very interested in making a storyteller doll. He did, though, make an octopus with a mohawk. There has to be a story in there somewhere!