It’s almost July 1st and that means it’s time to celebrate Canada Day! We’ve been learning about the traditional symbols of Canada such as maple syrup, hockey and an inukshuk.
An inukshuk is a monument made of unworked stones that are used by the Inuit for communication. The traditional meaning of the inukshuk is “Someone was here” or “You are on the right path.” The children thought it might be difficult to follow travel directions in the Canadian north where there are few roads and sign posts. Building a giant inukshuk to help travelers find their way made perfect sense to the kids.
We set out on a nature walk to collect some rocks so that we could make our own inuksuit (plural form).
I suggested the kids search for flat stones and include a variety of sizes in their bags.
You will need a hot glue gun to secure the rocks together.
The kids got to work seeing how their stones could fit together.
They planned out their inuksuit laying them down on the floor first.
I went around to each child and glued the rocks according to their instructions.
The children learned about size, weight and balance once their creations started to take form.
This was a great project for a mixed age group of children. Each child made an inukshuk according to their own level of understanding.
We added some Canadian flags to make our display table festive.
Happy Canada Day Everyone!
I’m a former elementary school teacher, and homeschool mother of two, who runs a Waldorf inspired home childcare/preschool. 
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Question… Did you use a special kind of glue? Did you have troubles with them falling apart?
I used a hot glue gun with the regular glue sticks. I was concerned it wouldn’t be strong enough or once the glue cooled down they would fall apart but that didn’t happen. However, the children didn’t play with the Inukshuk’s after they made them. We put them on a shelf five months ago and they are still in one piece!