All of the following helps kids learn about Canada’s history – Canadian children’s books, a symbols unit, art, reading, book suggestions, and more.
I LOVE teaching a Canadian in the classroom unit based on our many symbols to my primary students. Canada is a multicultural country with an interesting and diverse history. Our country has many important symbols!
Canadian Children’s Books: Stories of Pride and History
I think it’s important to teach our children about Canada and the rest of the world. Whether or not you live in Canada, the activities would be enjoyable to any children worldwide. They could also be replicated for your own country.
Today, I will share some fun Canadian activities you can do in the classroom with your students. I also have two brand new Canadian products (Canadian Symbols & A Trip Across Canada {Provinces, Territories, & Geography}) for the primary classroom and an updated freebie full of fun writing activities to use during your Canada unit (see below).
Canadian Children’s Books
At the beginning of our unit, we spend time reading books about Canada, having discussions about its many symbols. There are many books suitable for primary aged children and these are some of my go-to favourites!
ABC of Canada by Per-Henrik Gurth (He has a whole series of Canadian concept books for kids about Canada with adorable graphics).
M is for Maple & M is for Mountie are alphabet style books with many Canadian symbols alphabetically. These books and others are by Michael Ulmer.
Our Flag by Ann Owens and Our Canadian Flag by Maxine Trottier are good books for teaching about the Canadian Flag.
Goodnight, Canada by Andrea Lynn Beck is a cute book. She alson has one for goodmorning. Love all the symbols she touches on.
Canada Classroom Activities
Make a Canadian Flag
The Canadian Flag is probably the most important symbol of all. It is red and white and has a red maple leaf in the center. We discuss the flag and why it is important. Afterwards, we read the All About Canada’s Flag poster and complete the question sheet in pairs. We talk about it being the symbol that we are most recognized by throughout the world.
To decorate the classroom and pride for our country, we make our own flags to hang in the classroom.
My student teacher last year had a great idea to cut fabric and give students their own rectangle to decorate. My instructions are always to use symbols that represent Canada, make sure there is plenty or red and white, and be creative! I give them maple leaf stencils to use to draw at least one maple leaf on their flag.
Here are some great examples of completed flags!
We hang out flags with pride from our classroom clothing lines!
If you like this activities, I have included a sheet of symbols to cut out and draw, as well as a flag template, available in my Canadian Symbols unit HERE.
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Learn about Inukshuks
Inukshuks are another important Canadian symbol. Learning about the rock sculptures made by Inuits in upper Canada are fun and interesting for children. Many of us have seen small, miniature versions of the rock sculptures, but not many have seen a real Inukshuk.
We discuss the features of Inukshuks and their purpose (to give directions and messages to others ). After that, we read the Inukshuk poster and answer questions in pairs.
We create Inukshuk art with pastels and pieces of material. This is a great activity because children get to creatively design their own Inukshuk.
We start by creating a background resembling the Northern Lights of upper Canada. Use chalk pastels because they spread easily. Use different colours to scribble colour the ground and the sky. Mixing colours is key to create the look of the aurora borealis (Northern Lights).
Next, get busy spreading and blending the colours together in outward motions. This is messy but creates a beautiful display in the end.
We found this shiny silver paper in our art room, but you could use grey construction paper or white paper and have students colour it grey. Student needed to cut out at least 5 pieces to create their Inukshuk. Once they cut out their pieces, they practiced arranging the pieces and them gluing them onto their completed background.
I absolutely love how these turn out! The rainbow looking sky with the silver Inukshuk is striking.
Hang all of the Inukshuks together to create a beautiful, colourful display! Every Inukshuk is different and unique.
I have included the materials needed to create your own Inukshuks in your classroom in my Canadian Symbols unit HERE. You get templates with ready drawn pieces that students can cut, colour, and arrange on their background, as well as a writing template to describe the meaning of their Inukshuk.
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Learn about Totem Poles
Being from British Columbia, I must teach my students about totem poles, which are all of the west coast of Vancouver and our province. They are an important symbol of Canada carved and created by the Aboriginals of B.C. They are important because they all have different meanings and tell their own stories.
We read the All About Totem Poles symbol poster and discuss. Student complete the questions in pairs.
We create our own totem poles using the template. Students are asked to colour their totem pole and and cut it out. We glue our totem poles with wings out onto a paper towel roll.
We display them in our classroom window facing out for our community to see. Totem poles are not often made anymore, but those that are standing today are a major local tourist attraction.
Understanding Canadian Symbols
The 3 Canadian symbols discussed in this post are included in the All About Canada {Canadian Symbols unit}, as well as 9 more symbols.
You get posters with facts, question sheets, activities, and mini-books to learn the symbols.
In addition, you get a sheet with social media clickable links and lesson and book suggestions to use for all the symbols.
You can view the product and preview its contents HERE. As you see, this comprehensive, 160 page, unit is great for Canadian classrooms and International classrooms learning about Canada. The Canadian Symbols included are beavers, the maple leaf, the flag, national anthem, mounties, maple syrup, inukshuks, totem poles, Canadian geese, hockey, landmarks, and currency.
If you would like a FREE sample from the unit with fun Canadian writing activities, click HERE!
If you are interested in a social studies unit about Canada to teach Canada’s provinces and territories, as well as Canadian geography, check out A Trip Across Canada HERE!
The books seen in this post are available on Amazon below!
What are your favourite Canadian children’s books? What activities have you enjoyed for learning about Canada?
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