Clans and Tartans

Create an impressive, colorful plaid with Crayola® Erasable Colored Pencils. Make your own clan’s Tartan for a greeting card, report cover, even gift wrap!

• 1.

  Find out about Scottish and Irish clans and their historic Tartans. Search for one with your family name. Or invent one! Will you use your plaid to make a wallhanging, nameplate, or door hanger? Choose the size of paper that works best. Fold it if necessary to make a card or report cover. Then decorate it in a colorful plaid! Here’s how.

• 2.

  Using two or more Crayola Erasable Colored Pencils, draw stripes at an angle across your paper until it is completely covered. Use the eraser to remove lines in the opposite direction of the stripes. This forms a check pattern similar to Scottish plaid.

• 3.

  To embellish your design, erase a shield in the center and color it. Use your imagination to add symbols to your shield. Write and outline the title of your report or other words after erasing space for them.

Benefits

• Students research the history and contemporary popularity of Scottish, Irish, Celtic, and other Gaelic clans and Tartans.
• Students duplicate a Tartan or create an original design for display or other use.

Adaptations

• Younger children and those with disabilities may benefit from seeing a variety of Tartan designs before creating their own. Some may even choose to duplicate a design they choose.
• Make other fabric designs such as hound’s-tooth, lattice, trellis, Kente cloth, and many other textile patterns from around the world.
•  Explore weaving, fabric dying, and other textile arts.
• Assessment: How detailed is the plaid? How creative or authentic is it in color and width of stripes? How well does the work represent what was learned about clans and Tartans?