Making Mini Flags with Legos in World Language Class

MY ELEMENTARY SPANISH STUDENTS LOVE FLAGS, and I am constantly searching for new ways to incorporate them in class. I stumbled across the idea of using Legos on Pinterest a while back but didn't act on it until I saw a Twitter post from Señora Speedy (check out her blog here!) where she had fast finishers making large flags out of Legos, which gave me the push I needed to try it myself. Since my First Graders focus on the South America map in January, it seemed like the perfect time to bring in the Legos.

I DECIDED TO STICK WITH MAKING MINI FLAGS since I wanted to do the activity with whole class at the same time, and therefore needed A LOT of Legos! I don't have any of my own, so I put out an all call to my colleagues at school, and quickly had several bucketfuls at my disposal. I parceled out bricks of the colors needed to put together the flags from South America onto paper plates, labeling each paper plate with the teacher's name from where I got those Legos so I could return them to the right bucket. (I ended up only pulling from two buckets). I made seven plates so I could divide up the class into groups of 2 or 3, thereby reducing the chance of arguing over bricks.

BEFORE STARTING, I SHOWED KIDS EXAMPLES USING DIFFERENT SIZED BRICKS, all making the same flag (Paraguay) so that they realized they didn't have to stick with just one size (this was in large part because I just didn't have enough bricks of any one size for all kids to make the same flag at the same time).

ONCE IN GROUPS, I BEGAN BY NAMING A PARTICULAR FLAG, showing it to my students and instructing them to construct it themselves using the Legos on the plate. I gave them a few minutes to put the flags together, I checked them out, and then we reviewed the colors of that flag. We then took them apart and started again. I did this activity twice, over two classes, each time lasting about 12-15 minutes tops.

IT WAS SUCH FUN, AND A GREAT HANDS ON WAY TO PRACTICE country names and colors while focusing on culture! For more activities with flags, check out my pack here:

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DON’T HAVE LEGOS and can’t source them? No problem! Use random items like pom poms, cubes, play food, animal counters, buttons, what ever you have and put them in trays for kids to get creative! I like to have a flag posted on the Apple TV so they can see it large, and then work in small groups or pairs to create the flag I’ve indicated. Doing 5-6 flags seems a good number to do in one lesson; this also gives us the opportunity to do this activity multiple times without it feeling stale :)