The California Mission 4th grade project is fun and exciting for children and their parents. We decided to make our mission The Misión de la Imaginación.
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Spane is going into 6th grade this fall, so his California Mission project is over. When I took pictures of the project, I took them on an ancient “dumb” phone, hoping to retrieve them someday. When my computer went to the hospital for a new motherboard, it also came back with better Bluetooth, and I could finally get the pictures off the phone.
If you are a parent with a child going into 4th grade this fall, and you live in California, you will have to deal with this. California Missions are part of the California State Common Core 4th grade curriculum. There is no getting out of it. But, for crafty parents, that’s a good thing! You might have so much fun that your child may be on the sidelines, wishing to participate in the grand project. Don’t do that – it’s a great time to spend time with your child and learn together. You can even take a trip to your closest mission!
Spane came home with a kit his teacher had given him. I opened the box, looked at the directions, and was utterly baffled. Then I went to my local Michael’s store, which always has everything needed to make a mission on display. I looked at their kits, too, and decided, for the money, I could build a better mission without a kit. Some supplies I already had, some I went to my local dollar store, and others, like the well, fence, and grass I bought at Michaels. I like working with Styrofoam because, although messy, it also makes excellent structures that can be carved as needed. I looked at some of the existing mission kits to determine how much I would need.
We decided that our mission would not be built using one of the existing plans; ours would be the Mission of the Imagination (Misión de la Imaginación). We are practicing Catholics, and since the mission was built during Lent, our chapel would be decorated minimally for Lent. We wanted realism, so I bought stained glass tiles for the windows, sand for the earth, a well, fencing, bells for the bell tower, and to-scale farm animals. I also bought tile for the floor and entrance to the chapel and glass tile for the roof. Even though the Spanish used brick tiles for their missions, I wanted our Mission of the Imagination to have glass tiles. I also bought electric tea lights and had them on during Back to School night when other parents and children could see them.
Spane had a lot of fun doing all the landscaping, including gluing the sand. He also painted the ocean with fish, and we glued cellophane on it for waves. Spane strung the bells for the bell tower and placed the crucifix and the fence. I cut the Styrofoam, made the holes for the windows, and put the windows in place.
California Mission 4th Grade Project – Misión de la Imaginación
More About California Missions
- Mission History
- Mission Resource Center
- 21 California Missions and Maps
- Spanish Missions in California (Wikipedia)
- More resources
Your California Mission 4th Grade Project – Misión de la Imaginación on The Good Plate website is just what I was looking for. My son is going into 4th grade this year, and I really want to do something special. You’ve given me some good ideas. Thanks for the help :) Take care.
You’ve got plenty of time. Try going to resale shops for “props”. If you are going to use Styrofoam, you can lightly spray paint it to give it a weathered look.
Thanks for posting this in the summer. I’ve got a daughter who is going into the third grade this year, so I’ll have a leg up on the project.