5 Classroom-ready book and activity pairings for school visits

How do we explain our work to children in a way that is meaningful and accessible—without turning the visit into a lecture?

The first two articles of this series explored why children’s books are such powerful tools for architecture outreach and highlighted the authors shaping this growing movement. This final installment focuses on how to actually conduct outreach, focusing on five classroom-ready book and activity pairings architects can use for school visits, career days, Architecture Week, or STEM/STEAM programming.

Across these examples, the structure is the same: read the book aloud, then invite students into a hands-on activity that builds on its ideas. The book provides shared language and context; the activity allows students to test and apply what they’ve noticed.

Each pairing has been tested in classrooms and is designed to be flexible and easy to facilitate. Together, they reflect a consistent idea from conversations with authors: Children don’t need architecture explained to them; instead, they need space to notice, imagine, and test ideas through making.

The goal is not to turn children into architects but to help them see the built environment as something they can shape.

Activity 1: Design Your Dream Home

Book: “If I Built a House” by Chris Van Dusen
Grades: K–5
Materials: 11×17 plain or graph paper, writing and drawing utensils, rulers

How the activity works
After reading the book aloud, students design a home of their own using a simplified version of the architectural process. They begin by identifying who lives in the home and what those occupants need, introducing the concept of an architectural program. Students then brainstorm inspiration, drawing from hobbies, favorite colors, or places they love. Finally, they sketch a home that blends imagination with purpose.

What students learn
Students learn that design begins with people’s needs, habits, and imaginations.

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Activity 2: Those Crazy Animals

Book: “Need a House? Call Ms. Mouse!” by George Mendoza
Grades: K–5
Materials: Paper, pencils, two dice (one with animals, one with building types). To create the dice, print pages 2 and 3 of this PDF or use your own design.

How the activity works
Inspired by a classroom outreach program developed through AIA Kansas City, this activity turns students into architects for unexpected animal clients. After reading the book, students roll one die to determine an animal and a second to determine a building type—for example, a library for a horse or a school for a turtle. Students consider how their client moves, lives, and interacts with space before designing a building tailored to those needs.

What students learn
Students practice empathy by designing spaces that respond to a user’s specific needs.

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Activity 3: The Great Spaghetti + Marshmallow Build

Book: “Iggy Peck, Architect” by Andrea Beaty
Grades: K–5 and 6–8
Materials: Dried spaghetti, marshmallows, cardboard bases, hand wipes

How the activity works
Adapted from an outreach activity developed through AIA Staten Island, students work individually or in teams to build a freestanding structure using only spaghetti and marshmallows—no tape or glue allowed. Cardboard bases provide a stable platform for construction, while wipes help manage sticky hands and surfaces as students experiment. As structures collapse and are rebuilt, students discover principles of balance, stability, and geometry.

What students learn
Students experience firsthand that failure, testing, and revision are essential parts of design.

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Activity 4: Fairy Tale Fixers

Book: “The Three Little Pigs: An Architectural Tale” by Steven Guarnaccia
Grades: K–5 (modified) and 6–8
Materials: Paper or printed worksheet, writing and drawing utensils, rulers. A printable worksheet with multiple design prompts is available through LACArch. Email Lori@LACArch.com to learn more.

How the activity works
Developed by LACArch, Fairy Tale Fixers is a worksheet-based activity that invites students to step into the role of architects tasked with solving design problems hidden inside stories. After reading the book aloud, students respond to a series of guided prompts, which ask them to identify what went wrong due to poor materials, weak structure, bad site selection, or lack of planning.

Students also redesign the setting so the characters succeed. Younger students may focus on materials and basic structure, while older students can incorporate goals, constraints, and simple programming before sketching.

In classroom settings, the worksheet can include multiple fairy tale scenarios. You can assign students one prompt at random (for example, by rolling a die) or allow them to choose. To modify this exercise for younger students, offer fewer, simpler scenarios.

Example
One activity, Rapunzel’s Tower Access Redesign, asks students to design a safer way for visitors to reach Rapunzel—and for her to leave when she chooses. The prompt encourages students to think about access, safety, and connection across height and distance.

What students learn
Students learn to identify design problems and propose solutions grounded in context and constraints.

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Activity 5: Neighborhood Stories—Past, Present, Future

Books:
“Walking in the City with Jane” by Susan Hughes
“Five Stories” by Ellen Weinstein
“The Little House” by Virginia Lee Burton
Grades: K–8 (book choice varies by age)
Materials: Paper, writing and drawing utensils, photos or maps (optional)

How the activity works
After reading one of the books aloud, students explore how buildings and neighborhoods change over time through two paths:

1. Design a better block: Observe what makes a street welcoming or challenging, then propose improvements inspired by Jane Jacobs’ ideas.

2. A building through time: Draw a building in the past, present, and future, exploring how changing needs shape architecture.

What students learn
Students see how buildings can change over time in response to people, use, and community needs.

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3 Low-lift extensions for when time or materials are limited

When schedules are tight, these book-led prompts offer meaningful alternatives using little more than paper, pencils, and conversation. Many of the authors featured here also provide supplementary classroom resources—including activity guides and extension ideas—through their websites.

Ideas are everywhere (“Carmen and the House That Gaudí Built” by Susan Hughes)
Architects find inspiration in unexpected places—movement, nature, stories, and even dance. Invites student to look beyond buildings and discover where ideas can come from.

Notice your place (“My Town/Mi Pueblo” by Nicholas Solis)
Invite students to observe and record everyday buildings and places that matter to them, such as homes, shops, schools, places of worship, or gathering spaces. Ask students to draw one place and explain why it’s important, who uses it, and what would be lost if it disappeared.

Who builds a building? (“The House That She Built” by Mollie Elkman)
Invite students to map the roles involved in creating a house or school, emphasizing collaboration, teamwork, and belonging.

Why book-led outreach works
Across all of these pairings, the books—not the architect—do the heavy lifting. Stories create space for conversation, reflection, and imagination. Architects contribute by asking questions, listening closely, and giving language to what students already notice.

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Supplemental materials from authors

Many of the authors below offer downloadable activity guides, discussion questions, and classroom extensions that complement their books and support deeper classroom engagement.

Andrea Beaty
Iggy Peck, Architect (illustrated by David Roberts)
Website: https://questioneers.com/
Instagram: @andreabeatyauthor | @dr.illustration

Mollie Elkman
The House That She Built (illustrated by Georgia Castellano)
Website: https://thehousethatshebuilt.com/
Instagram: @shebuiltfoundation | @shebuiltbooks | @mollieelkman

Susan Hughes
Walking in the City with Jane (illustrated by Valérie Boivin)
Carmen and the House That Gaudí Built (illustrated by Marianne Ferrer)
Website: https://www.susanhughes.ca/
Instagram: @susanhughesbooks | @valerieboivin_illustration | @marianneferrer.jpg

Janel A. LeGard
You Can Be, ME TOO!
Instagram: @legardarchitecture

Brad Meltzer
I Am I.M. Pei (illustrated by Christopher Eliopoulos)
Website: https://www.ordinarypeoplechangetheworld.com/
Instagram: @bradmeltzer | @chriseliopoulos

Nicholas Solis
My Town/Mi Pueblo (illustrated by Luisa Uribe)
Website: https://www.nicholassolis.com/
Instagram: @teachsolis

Ellen Weinstein
Five Stories
Website: https://www.ellenweinstein.com/
Instagram: @ellenweinsteinilloz

Jeanne Walker Harvey
The Glass Pyramid: A Story of the Louvre Museum and I.M. Pei (illustrated by Khoa Le)
Maya Lin: Artist–Architect of Light and Lines (illustrated by Dow Phumiruk)
Website: https://www.jeannewalkerharvey.com/
Instagram: @jeannewalkerharvey | @khoaleart | @dowphumiruk

Lori Apfel Cardeli, AIA, NCARB is the principal of LACArch, a residential architecture practice based in Bethesda, Md. She is the Maryland state representative for AIA’s Small Firm Exchange and is deeply engaged in K–12 architecture education through school visits, book drives, and her ongoing project, LACArch’s Little Book Club (@LACArchLittleBookClub).