Grade Level: Early Elementary

Background Information:

• Henna is a plant dye used to make temporary tattoos.
• Painting with henna has been practiced for over 5,000 years throughout Africa, India, and the Middle East.
• The henna plant originated in Egypt. Scientists have found mummies that had henna in their hair.
• Henna is traditionally used to mark the beginning of a new stage in a person's life. It may be applied to a newborn baby or a newly married woman. It was thought that the henna would bring good fortune and happiness.
• Today henna is used in parts of Africa just as Western women use fingernail polish. Although it is still used to mark ethnic affiliations, it is also used just because people find it attractive. Henna is actually sold commercially in the U.S. for cosmetic purposes. People in the U.S. have places where they can go and pay to have henna applied to various parts of the human body.
• Henna tattoos are traditionally done in a variety of patterns and shapes. There are specific symbols that henna artists use to symbolize thoughts such as peace, courage, love, and creativity.
• Comparatively, traditional African designs are more geometric than designs from India. Some of the geometric designs were inspired by rug and carpet designs.
• Although fresh henna leaves have no odor, henna powder has a damp vegetation smell.
• Henna powder is mixed with water and applied to the skin with a small stick or squeeze bottle. After the henna dries on the skin it is flaked off to reveal the temporary tattoo.
• The plant itself is a scrub about nine feet high. Henna plants produce flowers that are red, white, pink. yellow, and cream colored depending on the scrub. However, the part of the plant used to make henna powder is the leaves.

Objectives:

1. Students will create a poster showing how two different cultures strive for beauty.

Materials:

Paper, Elmer's GluColors decorative glue

Time:

Two Days

Procedure:

1. Have the students brainstorm ideas that answer the question: What do American women wear that the American public considers beautiful? Fingernail painting, mascara, high heals, lipstick, bracelets, and nylons may be some of the responses.

2. Explain to the students that not all cultures think that the same adornments are beautiful. Tell the students that you are going to introduce them to something that people in parts of Africa think is beautiful.

3. Introduce henna hand painting to the class by showing the class pictures of henna art. The following link contains a page of links to many different pictures and to information about henna.

4. Discuss the following questions with the class:

What is henna?

A dye that comes from a scrub about nine feet high

How is henna made?

Leaves are dried and crushed and mixed into a paste

What are the traditional uses of henna as a tattoo?

• Mark ethnic affiliations
• Mark a new stage in a person's life
• To beautify the body

5. Next, provide groups of students with:

• Pieces of paper
• A small 1 1/4 Oz. Bottle of Elmer's GluColors decorative color glue or similar product

Have students trace one of their hands on a piece of paper.*

Allow the students to create designs lightly with a pencil.

After they have created a design that they like, allow them to trace over the design with glue.

Allow students to create their own designs and choose the meaning of the designs. Then allow the glue to dry overnight.

Day 2

1. Have students look at the designs that they have created.

2. Ask students to decide whether or not they think henna hand painting is beautiful. Ask them to guess why they think the way that they do. You may also ask students what they think is more beautiful henna hand painting or permanent tattoos like the ones many Americans use.

3. Remind students that women traditionally practice henna body art. Then as a form of assessment, have the students fold a piece of paper in half. On one side have the students draw something some people in their culture do to look beautiful. On the other side have the students mount their hand design and write a sentence about how henna tattoos are used in Africa.

*This project may actually be done with henna on the skin. I chose to do it with glue and paper instead for the following reasons:

• It is hard to put henna on your own hands
• Parents may not approve of the activity
• The students may not want the henna designs on them for 3 weeks
• The henna paste needs to be left on the skin for 12 to 20 hours before flaking it off
• Henna is expensive and not easily obtainable.

Evaluation:

	5 points	3 points	1 point
Students have written a sentence about henna	Students wrote a sentence about henna that is fully accurate	Students wrote a sentence about henna that is not fully accurate	Students wrote a sentence about henna that was not complete
Students have drawn a picture of a object that is beautiful in their culture	Students drew pictures that show something beautiful from their culture. The picture was complete and showed effort by the students	Students drew pictures that show something beautiful from their culture. The picture is complete but shows minimal effort	Students drew pictures that show something beautiful from their culture. The picture is incomplete.
Students have created a henna hand design	Students neatly traced their hands and put forth the effort necessary to complete the project	Students traced their hands and put forth minimal effort to create the project	Students traced their hands but did not make henna art designs