Use Columbus-themed activities to help first graders learn more about this important man in history. Use poster paper to create a large map of the world. Let children take turns coloring the map. Create small boats out of paper. Cut them out and use tape to attach them to the map. Use the map as a visual to teach children about Columbus' journey. Other craft ideas include building the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria out of milk cartons. For each vessel, lay the carton on its side and use modeling clay to attach a straw mast and white paper sails.
Help children learn more about Columbus by performing and producing an imaginative drama about the important journey to North America. Children can create costumes and make backdrop scenes. Create a large ship to use as a prop. Use a large cardboard box as the base. Invite parents and family to the performance.
Use games to teach children about Columbus. Create a trivia game in which two teams compete against each other by awarding points for correct trivia answers. Another fun Columbus game is to create a memory game. Draw pictures of items associated with Christopher Columbus, such as ships and a map, then cut and paste the pictures onto colorful construction paper. Turn the papers over so the drawings face the table and ask children to find each item. Each child gets to turn over one paper. Play continues until the item is found. The whole class can receive a prize at the end of the game.
Pretend the classroom is a large world map and invite the children to make the journey from Spain to North America, just as Christopher Columbus did. Talk about the challenges Columbus might have faced. Have the students make drawings of Columbus, the Native Americans he might have encountered or a picture of what his ship may have looked like, and have them place these pictures in the appropriate areas of your classroom map.