Portavasos Con Mapas

I saw a DIY post on Pinterest today showing how to make coasters out of maps.  Personally, I'm not a coaster kind of girl.  My furniture is old, scarred up and shows the years of wear and tear that pets and kids have inflicted upon it - a moist drink is hardly going to make a difference.  Nor do I need coasters in my classroom . . . obviously.

Still, my teacher brain is telling me that I can use these coasters somehow.  For classroom use, I'm thinking they would have to be made with sturdy material that is not prone to breaking, so plastic would be good.  (I bet I can find plastic coasters at the dollar store.)

Then I would need to print maps of Spanish-speaking countries, maybe from Google Maps, and modpodge them onto the coasters.  Finally I would need to spray polyurethane or some other sealant on them to make them heavy duty for repeated classroom use.

Then what?  What to do with them?  How about . . .

• Drawing one out at the beginning of class each day:  ¿Cuál es la capital de . . . . COSTA RICA? ¿En el mapa, dónde está . . . BOLIVIA?  ¿Cuáles países tienen frontera con . . . MÉXICO?  ¿En cuál continente está . . . ECUADOR?

• Pairs Matching:  Los dos que tienen el mismo país trabajan en pareja.

• Extra Credit Research: Del país seleccionado busca la siguiente información: un tribu indígena, el nombre del presidente actual, una artesanía típica, el plato más famoso, la bandera . . . 

•  Game: Empareja los mapas y las banderas tan rápido como posible.  (Need to print flags, of course.)

Mind you, I realize that you don't need coasters in particular for any of the above activities - but the maps will help students to recognize where the countries are, the shape of their borders, the countries (and bodies of water) they border, and their capitals.  I think I might put this on my summer project list!

If you think of other map coaster ideas, please leave a comment.  I'm always looking for new ideas!

Hasta pronto,

--AnneK