The land of Machu Picchu, Nazca Lines, and the heart of the Ancient Incan civilization. A few surprises, too, like the Reed Islands and boats of the Uros People!
Navigate this page: Missions, Booklists, Incas, Ecosystems, Cooking, Composer Study, Folk Dance/Music, Art Project, Games, Movie, Videos
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Mapping it Out
- “Maps” Atlas: Display map of Peru
- “Usborne Geography Encyclopedia“: Pages about Mountain Ranges
- Crayola.com’s Free printable of Peru’s Flag and Country
- Seterra.com’s Free printable maps of South America
- Seterra.com’s Free online geography games for South America
Missions Spotlight
- “Window on the World”: Quechua (Amerindian people group descended from the Incas that now live in Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia)
- Wycliffe has fun info for kids about the translation of the Bible into Quechua:
- Compassion International has an interactive page for kids about Peru: Explorer.compassion.com/Peru.
- Prayercast.com/Peru: 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 Peru (these series have been kid approved)
- “Peru,” by Lisa Owings (Exploring Countries series. grades 2-5)
- “Peru,” by Alicia Klepeis (Country Profiles series, grades 3-7)
- “Peru,” by Michael Burgan (Enchantment of the World series, grades 5+)
Picture Books
- “Up and Down the Andes : a Peruvian festival tale,” by Laurie Krebs and Aurélia Fronty
- “Sharuko: Peruvian Archaeologist Julio C. Tello,” by Monica Brown
- “Planet Peru: an aerial journey through a timeless land,” by Marilyn Bridges
- “La Princesa and the Pea,” by Susan Middleton Elya (folk tale)
- “My Librarian Is A Camel,” by Margriet Ruurs (section about Peru)
- “The Llama’s secret: a Peruvian Legend,” folk tale adapted by Argentina Palacios
- “Incan mythology and other myths of the Andes,” by Greg Roza
- “Lost City: the Discovery of Machu Picchu,” Ted Lewin
- “Exploring ancient cities,” by Jessie Alkire
- “Machu Picchu,” by Elizabeth Mann
- “Uncovering the culture of Ancient Peru,” by Alix Wood
- “Ancient wonders: then & now,” by Stuart Hill (section on Machu Picchu)
- “Lost Cities,” by Giles Laroche (section on Machu Picchu)
- “Mysteries of Machu Picchu,” by Elizabeth Weitzman
Chapter Books
- “The Pied Piper of Peru,” by Ann Tompert
- “Where is Machu Picchu?” by Megan Stine (grades 2-6)
- “The Khipu and the Final Key,” by Dee Garretson and JM Lee (Boxcar Children Great Adventure Book 5)
- “Mystery in Peru: The Lines of Nazca“
- Article: “Uros People of Lake Titicaca,” AtlasObscura.com
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. This video goes along with the booklet: Origin Story of the Inka. 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
Ecosystems of Peru
- “Seven natural wonders of Central and South America,” by Michael Woods and Mary B. Woods (includes the Andes Mountains and the Amazon River)
- “Animals in danger in South America,” Louise and Richard Spilsbury (includes the Andes Mountains and the Amazon River)
The Andes Mountains Range (also listed under Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, 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 Peruvian Food with Kids
I noticed Asian recipes when reading up on cuisine in Ecuador and Peru and it turns out that there is quite an Asian population there. (There are more recipe links and pictures in Recipes by Country: Peru.)
The kids weren’t fond of it, but we had to have some quinoa. Even the Peruvian pizza recipe that we made together had quinoa on it! We also discussed some economics and health with this video: Quinoa in Peru increasingly only for the wealthy.
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.”
Folk Dance and Music of Peru
- Remember my comment about getting into the pan flute region of the Andes? Kike Pinto Traditional Peruvian Instruments
- Peru music and images
- Kids Song in Quechua
- Putumayo world music CDs to check out:
Art Project
I love the bright textiles of the Quechua people and how it’s represented in this fun llama project. Even my little 3 year old could draw the designs and bands of watercolor.
I had a great idea a la Nazca Lines for the twins to make a large-scale picture using branches and other natural material so that I would be able to see it from above. They couldn’t find enough material so made little pictures with lighter colored stone on the darker stone.
Kids can also try drawings from this book: “How to draw Peru’s sights and symbols,” by Cindy Fazzi.
Games
The Lost Cities board game and the Lost Cities card game fit perfectly into this study of Machu Picchu and the Ancient Incan civilization. The card game is 2-player and both are super fun.
Movie!
We watched “The Emperors New Groove,” which was fun and had elements of the landscape of the Andes mountains and Incan architecture.
Geography YouTube Videos
- The Last Incan Bridge
- Uros Islands on Lake Titicaca: life on a floating island
- Spinning, Dyeing, and Weaving Wool in Peru
- The Story of Alpaca Wool in Peru
- What Is Hiding Under the World Nazca Lines in Peru
- Nat Geo Kids Peru: Machu Picchu
- Mouk cartoon, Andes episode Mouk: It’s all White at the Top!
- Geography Now! Peru (this is a fun resource geared towards adults and older kids; I recommend that parents pre-watch before showing to younger kids)