Navigate this page: Missions, Booklists, Incas, Science, Cooking, Art Project, Folk Dance/Music, Composer Study, Physical Education, Movie, Videos

This post may contain Amazon Affiliate Links. I may earn a few cents on qualifying purchases. Thanks in advance for helping with the costs of running this blog!

Ecuador means equator in Spanish! By the end of our week in Ecuador, the kids had it on their bucket list to visit someday. We had a huge storm blow through and lost power for a week! We stayed on Ecuador for a few days after the power was restored. The beauty of homeschooling and being the teacher in charge!

Mapping it Out

• “Maps” Atlas: Display the map of Ecuador
• “Usborne Geography Encyclopedia“: Pages about the Amazon Rainforest
• “Atlas of Animal Adventures“: Iguana, Galapagos Islands
• Crayola.com’s Free printable of Ecuador’s flag and map
• Wycliffe.org also has printable with a larger flag image: free coloring printable of Ecuador’s Flag (Page 4)
• Seterra.com’s Free printable maps of South America
• Seterra.com’s Free online geography games for South America

Missions Spotlight

• We read the biography of Nate Saint, Jim Elliott and the group of missionaries who reached out to the Warorani people in the Amazon jungles of Ecuador. They were killed but their family members later brought most of the tribe to faith in Jesus.
  • For younger children, Answers In Genesis has a simple version of the the biography of Nate Saint.
  • For intermediate readers or as a read-aloud:
    “The Fate of the Yellow Woodbee: Nate Saint,” by Dave and Neeta Jackson
    “Nate Saint: Operation Auca,” by Nancy Drummond
  • There is a 3-part read aloud of “Operation Auca” on YouTube: Nate Saint Part 1, Nate Saint Part 2, Nate Saint Part 3
• Compassion International has an interactive page for kids:
  • Explorer.compassion.com/Ecuador.
  • Children raising support money: Aid for Ecuador.
• Prayercast.com/Ecuador: Prayer Points, Country Summary, Quick Facts
  **parents should preview the prayercast.com video for sensitive topics that may not be age appropriate.

Booklists

Introduction to Ecuador (these series have been kid approved)

• “Ecuador,” by Lisa Owings (Exploring Countries series, grades 2-5)
• “Ecuador,” by JoAnn Milivojevic (Enchantment of the World series, grades 5+)

Picture Books

• “Tree of dreams,” by Laura Resau (Ecuadorian Amazon Rainforest)
• “Incan mythology and other myths of the Andes,” by Greg Roza

Incan Empire: The Great Inka Road

About two years ago, we visited the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC, and walked through a temporary exhibit of The Great Inka Road. I still had the activity guides (half finished because the kids were little) and you can print it out for a study of the Ancient Incan Empire, spanning the countries of Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Chile. According to the approximate geography for each region, I assigned the pages as following:

• Ecuador: Chinchaysuyu, Pages 6-7
• Peru: Contisuyu, Pages 12-13
• Bolivia: Antisuyu, Pages 8-9
• Chile: Collasuyu, Pages 10-11

Science

• “Seven natural wonders of Central and South America,” by Michael Woods and Mary B. Woods (sections about the Galápagos Islands, the Amazon River, and the Andes Mountains)
• “Animals in danger in South America,” by Louise and Richard Spilsbury (sections about the Amazon River and the Andes Mountains)

Equator Fun Facts

• The earth bulges at the equator, making Mount Chimborazo the highest mountain on earth when measured from the center of the earth (not from sea level).
• At the equator, water will flow straight down a drain.
• People seem to have trouble walking in a straight line at the equator.
• You weigh less at the equator due to lesser gravitational pull.

The Galápagos Islands

• “Where are the Gálapagos Islands?” by Megan Stine
• “Galápagos George,” Jean Craighead George
• “Galápagos Islands,” Cynthia Kennedy Henzel
• “We’re sailing to Galápagos: a week in the Pacific,” by Laurie Krebs
• “Take your time: a tale of Harriet, the Galápagos tortoise,” by Eva Furrow and Donna Jo Napoli
• “Island: a story of the Galápagos,” Jason Chin
• “An old shell: poems of the Galápagos,” Tony Johnston
• “Galápagos penguins,” by Molly Kolpin
• “HMS Beagle Voyage and the Galápagos Islands,” by Theresa Morlock

Cloud Forest

“A cloud forest or fog forest is a (usually) tropical or subtropical, evergreen, montane, moist forest. It has a long-lasting, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud cover, usually at the canopy level.” (from Kids.kiddle.co)

• “Mountains Inside Out,” by James Bow (section about cloud forests)
• “The search for Olinguito: Discovering a new species,” by Sandra Markle
• “¡Olinguito, from A to Z!: unveiling the cloud forest,” Lulu Delacre
• “The Umbrella,” by Jan Brett

Andes Mountains (also listed under Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Peru, and Venezuela)

• “The Land of the Andes,” by Barbara A. Somervill
• “Mountains of the World,” by Dieter Braun (section on the Andes)
• “Llama or alpaca?” by Christina Leaf
• “What on Earth is a Guanaco?” by Edward Ricciuti
• “On the Wing,” by David Elliott (poetry, one poem about the Andean condor)
• Amazon Prime Video: “Wildest: Latin America,” Season 1, Episode 5, The Andes: World in the Clouds

• On Amazon Prime: “Wildest: Latin America,” Season 1, Episode 1, One Jungle, Many Worlds

Cooking Ecuadorian Food with Kids

We had a massive storm and lost power for almost a week during our study of Ecuador. The refrigerator was connected to the generator but I couldn’t cook anything. By the time afternoon would roll around, it was hotter inside the house than outside. Connecting the electric griddle into the generator, the kids and I made Ecuadorian Cheese and Potato Patties (Llapingachos) and Beef Empanadas. Totally worth the heat. (There are more recipe links and pictures in Recipes by Country: Ecuador.)

Art Project

Super low key (no power, remember?), the kids watercolored galapagos penguins by candlelight.

The girl in this video is pretty funny. I might have had the kids try their hand at sculpting with clay or play-doh like the folk artisan in the video: Folk Art and Dancing in Ecuador.

Folk Dance and Music of Ecuador

• The Pasillo is Ecuador’s national dance:
  • Traditional Ecuadorian Dance
  • 10-minute video tutorial for the Pasillo. It’s in Spanish, but the kids still followed along pretty well.

• We’re getting into the pan-flute region of the Andes!
  • Ecuador Music and Images
  • Desdichas–Ecuadorian Folk Song
  • Traditional Ecuadorian music called “Pasillo”
  • Andean Inca Music from Ecuador (long compilation if you want to play it in the background)
• Putumayo world music CDs to check out:
  • “Putumayo Kids Presents: Latin Playground“
  • “Putumayo Presents: Café Latino“
  • “Putumayo Presents: Latin Christmas”

Composer Study

We listened to the music of the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos during our studies of the northern countries of South America: Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. For links to YouTube videos of compositions, visit my page: “Composers: Heitor Villa-Lobos.” For ideas of how to do Composer Study, visit my page: “Art and Music.”

Physical Education

I would say we played fútbol, but I think we tried to stay as cool as possible. Let’s say our Physical Education was pretending that we live near the equator and have to survive the year-round heat!

Movie!

We finally got around to watching “Rio” and you bet we enjoyed having our power, air conditioning and internet connection back! The movie takes place in the city of Rio de Janiero and features a variety of rainforest animals. We also watched the Torchlighters episode about Jim Elliott (one of the missionaries with Nate Saint) on Amazon Prime.

Geography YouTube Videos

• Strangest Creatures of the Galapagos Islands
• Llamazing Race: Ecuadorian kids race on llamas
• Guinea Pig Beauty Contest
• Ascent of Mount Chimborazo
• Layers of a Rainforest
• Nat Geo Kids, Ecuador: Equator
• Nat Geo Kids, Ecuador: Cloud Forest
• Nat Geo Kids, Ecuador: Village Tribe
• Mouk cartoon, Amazon River Mouk: Pink Dolphin
• Geography Now: Ecuador (this is a fun resource geared towards adults and older kids; I recommend that parents pre-watch before showing to younger kids.)