Use Real Buildings as Inspiration in the Block Area

Kids don’t need a lot of direction for what to build in with blocks, but adding pictures of real buildings can make block area a little more interesting because it gives kids a bit of an engineering challenge and allows them to use their creativity to re-create designs.

Fun a Day has a great post all about using real buildings in block area, and she has both a free to subscribers printable and a larger structure book that can be purchased for use in your classroom or at home.

You can also use the ideas in the post as inspiration for making your own building cards that can be used at home or in a classroom setting. Check out the post for all the great ideas and why using building pictures in the block area is a great educational idea.

Have you ever used real buildings in building challenges for kids? I’d love to hear about it.

[Photo: Fun a Day.]

Hispanic Heritage Month runs from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 each year (because it celebrates the time period when several countries gained their independence) and it’s a great time to bring in some Hispanic inspired crafts and foods. For an overview on the celebration, the difference between Hispanic and Latino and the importance of the holiday, as well as a look at Latino art and famous Latinos and Latinas, check out this post and related information from the National Museum of the American Latino.

Spanish Playground has a great collection of craft ideas that you can do in Spanish class or with kids in any class or at home. It includes things like weaving, making mola (folk art from Panama; learn more at Kid World Citizen), doing an artist study of a Hispanic artist and more.

Crafty Chica has a great collection of crafts, coloring pages and printables for celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month with kids. I love this coloring page inspired by Amante bark painting, but there are also folk art stamps, corn husk dolls, tile painting ideas and more.

Papel picado is a classic folk art from Mexico that will feel familiar if you’ve ever made a paper snowflake. Learn how to make them from tissue paper with this video from Hispanic Society Museum and Library.

Learn more about Hispanic Heritage Month, get recipes and crafts from PBS Kids. I love this Peruvian siku flute, which can be made with old markers or paper straws.

While not exactly a craft, playing loteria (a Spanish language bingo game) is a fun thing to do with a group of kids. Free Kids Crafts has printable bingo cards with basic Spanish vocabulary and images for people who don’t already know these words.

And if you need a little snack when you’re done crafting, try these no bake mini tres leches cakes from Inspired by Family. They’re made with purchased pound cake so they’re pretty fast and easy.

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