Encanto is the hottest new Disney film for kids right now, and lucky for us homeschool moms it's chock full of learning opportunities!
Here's how to incorporate some Colombia and Encanto inspired fun in your homeschool curriculum this season.
1. Girl Power
While there is no Disney Princess in this film, the appeal to young girls is the strong female characters and the female-led story line, perfect for International Women's Day!
Grab some inspiring books about amazing women from history and sit down with your kids to talk about their contribution to history, politics and the arts.
We love the Who Was books and the Portrait of an Artist series.
Start with these:
- Who Was Rosa Parks?
- Who Was Amelia Earhart?
- Who Was Marie Curie?
- Portrait of an Artist: Frida Kahlo
- Portrait of an Artist: Georgia O'Keeffe
- Who Is Jane Goodall?
- Who Is Malala Yousafzai?
You could also add in one of these done for you unit studies:
2. Colombia
Learn about the location that inspired this mesmerising film.
With its stunning architecture, gorgeous rainbow of bright colours and fascinating history, Colombia is a great subject for a unit study.
Use our country research packet to guide older kids as they learn more about Colombia and its geography and history.
Encourage or help your child to find out about the climate in Colombia, where it is in the world, the native animals and plants, traditional foods, famous landmarks and more.
The beautiful documentary Wild Magic (Magia Salvaje) explores nature in Colombia with wonderful photography.
Wild Colombia Revealed is also worth a watch.
Extend this learning with one of these done for you unit studies:
Get hands-on by making arepas, creating a habitat for the animals that live there, creating your own casita (see #4 below) and listening to Colombian music.
How does it match up to Lin-Manuel Miranda's songs from the movie?
Learn more about the Hamilton and Encanto composer in this book.
There aren't a lot of books about Colombia for kids, but these are our favourite non-fiction books:
And some Colombia-based stories to enjoy:
The Biblioburro is a real thing which you can see more about in this video.
You may also want to put Colombia in context with a wider look at South America:
For teens, you could also delve into Colombia's history.
The Encanto movie is set around the 1950s which makes the back story of Alma and Pedro's separation around the turn of the century, the time of Colombia's Thousand Days War.
This civil war tore the coluntry apart for three years and would be a great starting off point to look at other Civil Wars in history, the causes of conflict, or current events such as the Russia-Ukraine crisis.
3. Spanish
Learning another language is an amazing skill which helps develop little brains exponentially, but try to keep learning fun!
Forget the flashcards and hothousing and grab some fun bilingual books and a picture dictionary of common nouns.
Theese are some of our favourite bilingual books for younger kids:
The Adventures of Pili in Colombia is fun for older kids.
You could even try watching Encanto in Spanish with English subtitles!
4. Homes
The homes we live in is a great topic for kids of all ages.
Take a walk around your neighbourhood to see different styles of architecture or take a trip to a nearby town or city to see what differences there are.
Can you spot architecture from different historical periods, or even visit local houses open to the public?
These books about different types of home are great:
Kids of all ages will love making their own casita.
Supply paint, crayons or collage materials to younger kids, or challenge older ones to make their own casita from recycling materials, popsicle craft sticks, air dry clay or cardboard tubes.
You could even turn it into a STEM challenge with cocktail sticks or wooden skewers and marshmallows!
5. Family
Family is a key theme in the Encanto movie and a great discussion to open up with your children.
How does Bruno feel being ostracised from the family?
How could the family have treated him better?
What does it mean to be family?
Create your own family tree, look at scripture passages about family, or use this as an opening to a unit about emotions and feelings or an All About Me topic.
These cute Encanto lunchbox cards are great for talking to your children about self-esteem and being who you are.
Each one features a character and an affirmation they might have.
Use the affirmations on them to build an atmosphere of confidence and happiness in your home, or to talk about how these traits show up in everyday life.
More Encanto printables:
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