You don’t have to wait for a construction crew and empty land to learn how to build a city! Paper, markers, crayons and scissors will get you a long way… even if the city turns out a little smaller than you’re used to seeing. Librarian Mia from Sulzer Regional Library loves to construct crafty things. Read on for books to enjoy and ideas for building a city in your own home.
Follow A City Through Time in this tale of a fictional city growing up and moving through many real years.
Learn How Cities Work by looking at buildings, streets, history and inner structures in this awesomely illustrated book!
In My Papi Has A Motorcycle, a young girl takes a motorcycle ride with her dad through their city, where some things have stayed the same and some things have changed over time.
Now that you have explored different cities, it's time to start construction!
Do you have empty rolls—for toilet paper, paper towels, wrapping paper or anything else—that you plan to recycle soon? Don’t throw them away! Turn them into a miniature city with the help of a little paper and a lot of markers, crayons or paint!
Want to add a stylish challenge to your homemade city? PBS has a fun tutorial on building a geodesic dome out of newspaper (or any other paper you might have). In real cities, you can see this type of structure at some restaurants in Chicago, and you can see more in Seattle, Chile, Japan and even at Walt Disney World!
Reflect on Your Learning
- Think about your city and another city you’ve visited or heard about. How are the two cities the same? How are they different?
- If you could create any new building for the city you live in, what would it be? What would it look like? Who would go there or live there?
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