A huge array of games, activities, books, and more are available for kids of grades K-5. They introduce design concepts, architectural projects, and architects. Many thanks to the team at AIA national for gathering these resources!
Ada Twist’s Big Project Book for Stellar Scientists by Andrea Beaty (Activities)
Adventures in Architecture for Kids by Vicky Chan (Activities)
Architecture Around the World: Designing from A-Z! by Xena Stryler (Coloring)
Architecture Coloring Book by AIA Central Valley (Coloring)
Architecture for Kids by Mark Moreno (Activities)
Art-chitect 3D Home Design Architecture Kit (Activities)
Awesome Architecture Activities for Kids by Andrea Mulder-Slater, Jantje Blokhuis-Mulder, & Geoff Slater (Activities)
Bee an Architect Activity & Coloring Book by AIA Iowa (Activities, Coloring)
Build it! An Activity Book on Architecture by Brian Elling (Sticker Activity)
Creative Houses: Coloring Book for Kids by Rachel Mintz (Coloring)
DIY Afternoon: Recycling by Marie-Laure Pham-Bourwens (Activities)
Gutsy Girls Go for Science: Engineers with STEM Projects for Kids by Diane Taylor (Activities)
Iggy Peck’s Big Project Book for Amazing Architects by Andrea Beaty (Activities)
Minecrafter Architect: Amazing Starter Homes by Megan Miller (Design)
Minecrafter Architect: The Builder’s Idea Book by Megan Miller (Design)
Rosie Revere’s Big Project Book for Bold Engineers by Andrea Beaty (Activities)
The House That She Built Coloring & Activity Book by Mollie Elkman (Activities, Coloring)
You be the Architect by Square Root of Squid Publishing (Activities, Drawing)
You Can Be, Me Too! A week in the life of an Architect Coloring Book by Janel A. LeGard (Coloring)
Elementary books (K-5)
100 Things to Know about Architecture by Louis O’Brien & Leanne Daphne (Built environment)
A City Through Time by Philip Steele (Built environment, Design, History)
A Handful of Seeds by Monica Hughes (Climate action, Community)
A Street Through Time: A 12,000 Year Journey Along the Same Street by DK (Built environment, Design, History, Innovation)
A World of Your Own by Laura Carlin (Built environment, Design, Innovation)
Ada Twist, Scientist by Andrea Beaty (Design, Innovation, Women’s History Month)
Alphabet Everywhere by Elliott Kaufman (Design)
Arches to Zigzags by Michael J. Crosbie & Steven Rosenthal (Built environment)
Architecture According to Pigeons by Stella Gurney and Speck Lee Tailfeather (Built environment, Design)
Be a Maker by Katey Howes (Built environment, Innovation)
Bear Builds a House by Maxwell Eaton III (Built environment, Climate action, Community, Design)
Beautiful Oops! by Barney Saltzberg (Innovation, Perseverance)
Beneath the Streets of Boston: Building America’s First Subway by Joe McKendry (Built environment, Community, Design, Innovation)
Big City Atlas by Maggie Li (Built environment)
Boxitects by Kim Smith (Built environment, Design, Innovation)
Brick by Brick by Giullano Ferri (Climate action, Community)
Brick by Brick by Heidi Woodward Sheffield (Community, Design, Perseverance, Women’s History Month, Hispanic Heritage Month)
Brick: Who Found Herself in Architecture by Joshua David Stein (Built environment)
Build a House by Rhiannon Giddens (Community, Perseverance, Black History Month)
Builder Brothers: Big Plans by Drew & Jonathan Scott (Built environment, Design)
Building Zaha: The Story of Architect Zaha Hadid by Victoria Tentler-Krylov (Biography, Design, Perseverance, Women’s History Month)
Buildy Green, It Takes a Team by Julia Pooler (Built environment, Climate action, Design) Presentation deck
Carmen and the House that Gaudí Built by Susan Hughes (Climate action, Design, Innovation)
Climate Change (DK Eyewitness) by John Woodward (Climate action)
Design Your World by Maria VanDeman (Black History Month, Design, Women’s History Month)
Designing Dreams: An Official Deja the Dynamo Adventure by Andrea Martin, Sharla Toller, and Chris Whitcomb (Black History Month, Built environment, Design, Innovation)
Doll-e 1.0 by Shanda McCloskey (Innovation, Women’s History Month)
Dream Builder: The Story of Architect Philip Freelon by Kelly Lyons (Biography, Black History Month, Community)
Dreaming UP by Christy Hale (Built environment)
Empire State Building: When New York Reached for the Skies by Elizabeth Mann (Built environment, Design, Innovation)
Everybody in the Red Brick Building by Anne Wynter (Community, Design)
Five Stories by Ellen Weinstein (Built environment, Community)
Girls Who Build by Katie Hughes (Design, Innovation, Women’s History Month)
Harlem Grown: How One Big Idea Transformed a Neighborhood by Tony Hillery (Black History Month, Climate action, Community, Innovation)
Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson (Community, Innovation)
Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth by Oliver Jeffers (Climate action)
House Held Up by Trees by Ted Kooser (Climate action)
How a House is Built by Gail Gibbons (Built environment, Design)
How Cities Work by Feroze & Hancock (Built environment)
How Did They Build That? (series) by various authors (Built environment, Design)
How Do Bridges Not Fall Down? A Book about Architecture & Engineering by Jennifer Shand (Built environment, Design)
I am I.M. Pei by Brad Meltzer (Asian Heritage Month, Biography)
If I Built a House by Chris Van Dusen (Built environment, Design, Innovation)
If I Built a School by Chris Van Dusen (Built environment, Design, Innovation)
Iggy Peck, Architect by Andrea Beaty (Built environment, Design, Innovation)
Iggy Peck and the Mysterious Mansion by Andrea Beaty (Built environment, Design, Innovation)
In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak (Design, Innovation)
Interstellar Cinderella by Deborah Underwood (Innovation, Perseverance)
Jamila Pearl The Architect Girl by Kionna Louise (Design, Innovation)
Joe and the Skyscraper: The Empire State Building in New York City by Dietrich Neumann (Built environment)
Kid Architect Goes to Moody Nolan Architects by Gary Vance (Black History Month, Built environment)
Larry Gets Lost in New York City by John Skewes & Michael Mullin (Built environment)
Larry Gets Lost in Philadelphia by John Skewes & Michael Mullin (Built environment)
Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Pena (Community, Hispanic Heritage Month)
Listen to the Earth: Caring for our Planet by Carme Lemnscates (Climate action)
Little Designers: Sea of Dreams by Kelli D Stewart (Community, Design, Innovation, Women’s History Month)
Little Dreamers: Visionary Women Around the World by Vashti Harrison (Asian Heritage Month, Black History Month, Biography, Hispanic Heritage Month, Women’s History Month)
Little Elliot, Big City by Mike Curato (Asian Heritage Month, Built environment, Community)
Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History by Vashti Harrison (Biography, Black History Month, Women’s History Month)
Little Legends: Exceptional Men in Black History by Vashti Harrison (Biography, Black History Month)
Little People, Big Dreams: Zaha Hadid by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara (Biography, Design, Perseverance, Women’s History Month)
Lonely Planet Kids: How Animals Build by Moira Butterfield (Animal architecture)
Lonely Planet Kids: How Cities Work by Jen Feroze (Built environment)
Look at That Building! by Scot Ritchie (Built environment)
Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey (Built environment, Community)
Maya Lin: Artist-Architect of Light and Lines by Jeanne Walker Harvey (Asian Heritage Month, Biography, Design, Innovation)
Maybe I’ll be an Architect by Tenille Bettenhausen (Built environment, Career exploration)
Maybe I’ll be an Engineer by Tenille Bettenhausen (Built environment, Career exploration)
Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney (Community, Women’s History Month)
Moxie, the Dachsund of Fallingwater by Cara Armstrong (Built environment, Design, Innovation)
Need a House? Call Ms. Mouse! by George Mendoza (Built environment, Community, Design)
Not a Box by Antoinette Portis (Design, Innovation)
Not-a-Box City by Antoinette Portis (Community, Design, Innovation)
Numbers Everywhere by Elliott Kaufman (Design)
Old Enough to Save the Planet by Loll Kirby (Climate action)
On This Spot: An Expedition Back Through Time by Susan E. Goodman (Built environment)
Puffin the Architect by Kimberly Andrews (Built environment, Community, Design, Innovation)
Roberto, the Insect Architect by Nina Laden (Community, Design, Innovation)
Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty (Design, Innovation)
Roxaboxen by Alice McLerran (Community, Design, Innovation)
Shapes, Lines, and Light by Katie Yamasaki (Asian Heritage Month, Biography)
Shigeru Ban Builds a Better World by Isadoro Saturno (Biography, Community, Hispanic Heritage Month, Innovation)
Sofia Valdez, Future Prez by Andrea Beaty (Community, Innovation, Women’s History Month)
Someone Builds the Dream by Lisa Wheeler (Built environment)
The Big House and the Little House by Yoshi Ueno (Community, Design)
The Dog House by Kreg Mebust (Design, Innovation)
The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds (Design, Innovation)
The Evolution of Egansville by Rachel Roellke Coddington (Climate action, Community, Design, Innovation)
The Fascinating Engineering Book for Kids by Dr. Jacie Maslyk (Built environment, Design, Innovation)
The Gardener by Sarah Stewart (Climate action, Community)
The Glass Pyramid: A Story of the Louvre Museum and Architect I. M. Pei by Jeanne Walker Harvey (Asian Heritage Month, Built Environment, Design, Innovation)
The House of Happy Spirits: A Children’s Book Inspired by Friedensreich Hundertwasser by Géraldine Elschner (Climate action, Community, Design)
The House That She Built by Mollie Elkman (Built environment, Design, Women’s History Month)
The Magical Yet by Angela DiTerlizzi (Perseverance)
The Mellons Build a House by Robin Jacobs (Built environment, Climate action, Design)
The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires (Innovation, Perseverance)
The Secret Subway by Shana Corey (Community, Climate action Design, Innovation)
The Story of Buildings: From the Pyramids to the Sydney Opera House and Beyond by Patrick Dillon (Built environment, Design, Innovation)
The Streets are Free by Kurusa (Built environment, Community, Hispanic Heritage Month)
The Three Little Pigs: An Architectural Tale by Steven Guarnaccia (Built environment, Design, Innovation)
The World Is Not a Rectangle: A Portrait of Architect Zaha Hadid by Jeanette Winter (Design, Innovation, Women’s History Month)
The World of Design by Pamela Pease (Built environment, Design, Innovation)
Walking in the City with Jane: A Story of Jane Jacobs by Susan Hughes (Built environment, Community, Perseverance)
We Build Our Homes: Small Stories of Incredible Animal Architects by Laura Knowles (Animal architecture)
What Can a Citizen Do? by Dave Eggers (Community, Innovation)
What Do You Do With an Idea? by Kobi Yamada (Innovation)
What Is Architecture? by Atianna J. Cordova (Built environment)
When Pencil Met Eraser by Karen Kilpatrick & Luis O. Ramos, Jr (Community, Innovation)
Where the Trees Grow by Yoon Kang-mi (Asian Heritage Month, Climate action, Community, Innovation, Women’s History Month)
Where Things are from Near to Far by Tim Halbur & Chris Steins (Urban planning)
Who Made My Stuff? Miles learns about design by Aisha Denemore-Bay (Black History Month, Design, Innovation)
Who was Frank Lloyd Wright? by Ellen Labrecque & Who HQ (Biography, Built environment, Design, Innovation)
You Can Be, Me Too! A week in the life of an Architect by Janel A. LeGard (Black History Month, Career expoloration, Women’s History Month)
Young Frank, Architect by Frank Viva (Built environment, Community, Design)
Playtime exploration can be as compelling as globally notable structures in the river of history. Find the dreams and works of innovative architects in those children’s experiential expression at a level of architectural treasures.
Tiersa Wodash, AIA reads for you
Principal Architect of Brick and Mortar LLC, Duluth
Featured project: Here Comes the Sun, a free fun and informational solar energy workshop for the community at the Family Freedom Center that was featured on Fox.
written and illustrated by Christy Hale
ISBN: 9781600606519
Lying down, one by one, Mixer, Bulldozer, and Excavator. Time to say “night, night” and get ready for a new construction play tomorrow.
Claire Lonsbury, AIA, WELL AP reads for you
Featured project: University of Minnesota Track & Field and Recreation and Wellness Sports Field Complex
written by Sherri Duskey Rinker, illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld
ISBN: 9780811877824
Held the first day of the Minnesota State Fair (late August) near the Grandstand. Our volunteers would be happy to talk with you about incorporating architecture and architects into your learning experiences and student activities!
