Make a Bison
Don't call this animal a cow or a buffalo! It's a bison, and the Panhandle is home to a famous state herd at Caprock Canyons State Park, near Turkey, Texas. The bison is much larger and stronger than a cow. Bison have thick, brown, shaggy fur. Sometimes the fur on its head covers its horns. It also has a shaggy "beard." It has a big hump over its muscular shoulders. Many years ago, Native Americans hunted bison. They did not waste any part of the bison and used it for food, clothing and shelter. Millions of bison once roamed most of the Great Plains. In the 1800s, the United States government paid people to kill off the bison as a way to force Native Americans off their lands and on to reservations. Not many bison remain today, but some people are trying to raise herds in the Panhandle.
What You Need:
- Light blue construction paper or heavy paper
- Ground coffee (cheap brand)
- Outline of bison
- Crayons and markers
- Handful of different shades of brown yarn cut into half inch pieces
- Trace or copy the bison outline on to light blue construction paper or heavy paper.
- Fill in the outline with glue, and then sprinkle ground coffee over the glue with a spoon. Leave the eye space and horns empty.
- Color the horns and eye space with crayons or markers. You could also glue on a craft "wiggly eye."
- Glue various pieces of brown yarn pieces to head and chin for the shaggy fur.
- Draw the grass background of the Panhandle that the bison graze on.
For more fun, create a bison "herd" on a wall or bulletin board
with your bison pictures.