She came inside from playing with her friends at the playground. As she proceeded to look through the pantry for a snack, my daughter started sharing what the kids had been discussing. The whole conversation led us to explore what matters in life. A lot of the kids’ conversations lead to big chats like this one. The Cristobal Bull Book unit study grew from our brief chat in my kitchen.
Have you noticed kids just start talking sometimes? They don’t ask; they just share. My kids tend to do this. I try to remind myself to listen when they do.
It is a good thing that they share. It provides us with opportunities to have good conversations. That is exactly what happened this day.
This post is sponsored by Chris Corbett. All opinions are my own. Please view my disclosure.
My daughter shared that her friends were all talking about what careers they wanted when they were adults. The conversation primarily focused on jobs with high incomes. But, a few of the kids – you could tell by their answers – had goals of helping people. The dollars attached to the work were secondary.
Personal achievement and success is something a lot of parents are teaching their kids to seek. It is not all a bad thing. We try to teach strengths first. Then, let your strengths lead your career choice.
When we know our strengths and channel them into serving the world around us, we really make a huge impact with our lives.
The story of Cristobal Bull is a wonderful children’s book that shares this idea. You know I am a huge fan of sharing kids’ books that teach big life lessons with you.
The story of Cristobal Bull, written by author Chris Corbett, shares the story of a tough, success-oriented bull. His goal is seeking accomplishment. Cristobal thinks that personal success will lead to fulfillment. And, then he has an experience that teaches him that there is more to fulfillment than what we achieve for ourselves.
The story is a sweet one that both boys, girls, and all ages of children can enjoy and learn from the message. What struck me as an interesting idea while reading Cristobal Bull was how it can be turned into a unit study. There were themes in the story that led us to further study beyond just reading the book.
I put together a little thematic learning unit for my children based off of Cristobal Bull’s story and travels in the book.
It was a wonderful way to dive into geography for young kids. You can work in geography board games and puzzles to add even more hands-on learning.
Let me share what we did to get started.
Cristobal Bull Book Unit Study
This unit study covers social-emotional concepts like personal fulfillment and serving others. It explores geography through studying multiple countries. And, we tie in part of the ending of the story by using the Night Sky app and a history of the constellations to round out all the topics you can dive into from this one children’s book.
Big concepts, but this unit study works for preschool kids or elementary kids.
Supplies Needed: (Amazon affiliate links)
Markers or Crayons
Globe or map
Night Sky app (optional)
First Step: Reading Cristobal Bull
Read the book to your child. After reading, we turn back through the book to explore the specific journey Cristobal takes. I note the countries to which he travelled. Then we talk about what he learned through his journey.
Second Step: Country Studies (brief overviews)
Starting with where Cristobal began his journey, we traced his route from location to location. If you have a small globe or a wall map, use that. Even for preschoolers, this activity helps orient them to the geography of the world.
We then chose one art activity for each country listed below. There are so many listed in the Global Art project book. Pick one art project per day. This unit can really last you almost 2 weeks when you get started.
The countries we covered were:
Unites States
Mexico
Honduras
Canada
France
Switzerland
Third Step: Constellation Studies
Since Cristobal leaps to the sky near the end of the story, we are introduced to the array of constellations. My children love the Night Sky app. It is phenomenal for charting the night sky.
The printable constellation worksheets shared at The Moments at Home are wonderful for exploring constellations. I love the idea of building constellations with playdough and toothpicks too. Can your child build a model of Cristobal?
I will share more of our Space Exploration Unit with you soon. There is so much you can incorporate learning about space.
Fourth Step: A Story of Whoa Book
After learning about how many pictures are in the sky, discussing how Cristobal was completely fulfilled when he learned to love, and exploring his travels, we bring the focus back on applying the lessons to ourselves.
The book, A Story of Whoa, also written by Chris Corbett, brings the focus back to how we can each make the world a better place. I teach my children to notice the bad of the world, because we can only attempt to fix it if we acknowledge that it exists.
There is a lot of obvious needs in the world right now. There always have been, but it is just so in our faces these days. We can teach our children to see it, think on it, and recognize strengths within themselves that can help fix it.
That is what is taught in A Story of Whoa. The good of the world (strong families, connected) is contrasted by the bad (cruelty). The boy in the book learns to build his skills to make the world better. He takes action in individual situations to help fix bad circumstances.
There is not a better concept to teach our kids these days! And that ties back to Cristobal the Bull that inspired this entire unit study!
This Cristobal Book Unit Study really is about multiple concepts, linked together, that teach children to have a broader view of the world and their important place within it. Mission-minded kids are needed these days. Starting with teaching big life concepts and skills with books, our presence together as a family, and reinforcing those values will have a big impact.
Whether you homeschool or not, this Cristobal Bull book unit study and learning unit is adaptable to your children’s ages. It is a great go-to list of activities for rainy days at home with kids, or enrichment during summer vacation.
Grab your copies of Cristobal Bull and A Story of Whoa. All of the books mentioned are linked in the supply list above as well.
What are the big lessons you are trying to teach your children these days? What are they noticing in the world around them that they feel compelled to fix?
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