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Craft Ideas: Stone Age clothing and objects for the stone age camp
You will not manage to introduce all of the craft ideas which are presented here during a short camp. You will need several crafts and each child can choose 2-3 things which they want to make. However these ideas are only suggestions and each group leader can consider what type of craft work is suitable for the length of the camp, the program contents and the age and skill of the group members. The ideas must not be copied and do not have to be true to the original. We will leave that to the professionals and those who deal with such subjects intensively and scientifically.
Similar to the Red Indian camp, the kids are more than happy if they can produce some nice pieces of fur clothing and a couple of weapons (bows, stone axes or spears). If the group then splits into different workshop groups and build an earth oven together then try to cook something simple in it, you have achieved a lot.
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Clothing made from fur, leather or hemp sacks (fur jackets, fur shoes)
If no complete pieces of fur are available, different sections of fur must be sewn together. Simple loin clothes, long or short fur jackets and fur shoes are all imaginable. If you glue a pair of old Wellington boots with fur, you have something similar a pair of “fur shoes”. You can also sew pieces of fur onto an old (denim) jacket or pullover. If you do not place too much value on the fashionable design of the clothing and are talented with a needle and thread, you can make yourself an individual robe. As fur and leather pieces are not exactly cheap, you should pay attention to the sensible and thrifty use of the materials. It can happen all too quickly that a nice piece of fur is cut in the wrong way and cannot be used for another project. Stone Age people had also learnt how to produce threads and weaving garn, therefore old potato sacks can also be used. You can make loin clothes, robes and jackets from the sack material.
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Stone axe, stone hatchet, hand axe, arrows with stone points, wooden club, bow and arrow, spear
In order to make a stone axe, stone hatchet, a spear or an arrow point, you will firstly need to find the correctly shaped stones which are suitable for attaching onto the relevant wooden handles (wicker or hazelnut sticks). To achieve the correct shape, you will need to hit the stone into shape with a hammer and chisel. Please wear protective glasses for safety reasons.
The wooden handles are forked at the top or the relevant slit is cut into it. Indentations make sure that you have a good fit. Birch sap – that was the Stone Age glue – was used for extra hold. To tie the stone in place you should use string or leather strips. For safety reasons please make sure that the stones are fixed in place and that they cannot loosen. You should also forbid the use of the stone weapons for (play) fights. There is almost no risk of danger if you make the weapons from plywood, like in the Red Indian camp, and then simply paint the wood with relevant colours to provide a Stone Age look.
For a Stone Age club, each group member should look for a piece of wood (approx. 50-70cm long, approx. 8-10 cm thick) and should carve out a club which should look similar to a baseball bat.
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Necklaces and jewellery made from clay, soap stone, wood, shells and pieces of leather
Break the shells into little pieces, sand off rough edges on sandstone and drill a hole through the pieces. Snail shells which are no longer inhabited can be used instead of shells. Small pieces of wood are sanded and polished and drilled with a hole. Little wooden wheels can also be cut from a 1-2cm wide twig, if you have a good pair of garden/branch scissors. Pieces of fur, chestnuts, beechnut, nuts, bones and nicely shaped stones can also be used to make necklaces.
Little clay balls can also be used – a hole is made in the clay using a toothpick. The clay balls are then fired in a kiln/fire. The necklace itself can be a piece of string, a leather lace or a thin sisal string.
With the help of a file and drill, nice jewellery can also be made from soap stone.
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Leather bag
A circle with a diameter of 20cm is drawn onto a piece of leather and is cut out. At a distance of approx. 5-10mm from the edge, little holes are punched into the leather circle using punch pliers all the way around approx 3-4 cm apart. A leather lace is threaded through the holes. The simple leather pouch is finished.
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Clay pots, clay jewellery (clay balls, amulets)
Simple bowls can be made from clay. A clay amulet with engravings can be made by making small clay balls and using a toothpick to push a hole through the middle of the ball. The clay objects should then be dried or baked in a self-made oven or kiln or carefully dried over a glowing fire. There is always the danger that the clay pots break. However trying something out is better then studying it and in those days there weren’t any modern ovens and lots probably did get broken.
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Stone Age paintings on stones
With charcoal or clay, a Stone Age design is drawn/stuck onto a flat stone. A fixing fluid fixes the work of art into place and you might also want to use a clear varnish to finish off. If you want to make a paper weight from the stone, glue a piece of felt to the underside.
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Stone Age huts/dens
Which child doesn’t enjoy making huts or dens from sticks, branches, deadwood and other building materials? Depending on the area available and the possibilities which are at hand, you might be able to build some simple dens or even more complicated housing. The roofs are covered with straw, cane and twigs and damp earth/mud is used to fill up any gaps in the walls. You can live and sleep quite well on cliffs. If you do not have time for building such complicated accommodation, you might want to try and erect some simple structures i.e. a small hut. Several sticks are placed together in a pyramid form or are placed slanted against a cliff wall. The sticks make the roof and it is protected from the rain using foil (=fur). 1-2 old blankets which are laid out on straw can be used for the ground. You cannot make a direct comparison, but anyone who has spent the night in such accommodation can possibly imagine how the Stone Age people might have lived.
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