Exploring for Spain in the New World
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This idea was originally found at crafts.kaboose.com but the link is no longer active, and so the directions are as follows: New World Map Supplies:
Cut a rectangle from the side of the grocery bag that does not have seams. Use a pencil to draw simple land designs on the front of your bag. Refer to photo or a world map for general idea. Let your student paint the land on the left brown and the land on the right green. Paint the water (remaining areas) blue, leaving a small border around the land unpainted. Once the paint has dried, use a black marker to add an outline to the land masses. Write the words “New World” on the upper left land mass and “Spain” on the upper right land mass. Use the marker (or some white paint) to draw small curved lines around the water to represent waves. Draw a dotted line from “Spain” to the lower left land mass. Draw or paint the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria crossing the ocean. Paint a white sail with a red cross on each ship. Add another coat of green and brown watercolor paint to the land masses, except where the words are. Going around the words will give it a more dimensional look when dry. Adults or older students, use a lighter or candle to lightly burn the edges of the brown paper map to give it an aged look.  |
Christopher Columbus
(October 1451-1506) the explorer who led to general European awareness of the American continents in the Western Hemisphere. With his four voyages of exploration and several attempts at establishing a settlement on the island of Hispaniola, all funded by Isabella I of Castile, he initiated the process of Spanish colonization which foreshadowed general European colonization of the "New World".
Juan Ponce de Leon
A Spanish explorer who became the first Governor of Puerto Rico. He led the first European expedition to Florida, which he named. He is associated with the legend of the Fountain of Youth, reputed to be in Florida.
Vasco Núñez de Balboa
A Spanish explorer, governor, and conquistador, who is best known for having crossed the Isthmus of Panama to the Pacific Ocean in 1513, becoming the first European to lead an expedition to have seen or reached the Pacific from the New World. He traveled to the New World in 1500 and, after some exploration, settled on the island of Hispaniola.
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| Juan Rodriguez Oñate (1550 – 1626) was a Spanish explorer, colonial governor of the New Spain province of New Mexico, and founder of various settlements in the present day Southwest of the United States. |
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| Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo (1499 – 1543) was a Portuguese explorer noted for his exploration of the west coast of North America on behalf of Spain. Cabrillo was the first European explorer to navigate the coast of present day California in the United States. He helped found the city of Oaxaca, in Mexico |
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| Francisco Vásquez de Coronado (1510 – 1554) was a Spanish conquistador, who visited New Mexico and other parts of what are now the southwestern United States between 1540 and 1542. Coronado had hoped to conquer the mythical Seven Cities of Gold. |
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| Hernando de Soto (c.1496/1497–1542) was a Spanish conquistador who, while leading the first European expedition deep into the territory of what is now known as the United States, was the first European documented to have crossed the Mississippi River. |
