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CREATE YOUR OWN ALEBRIJE | MEXICAN FOLK ART CREATURE BUILDER

Create Your Own Alebrije: Mexican Folk Art Craft for Hispanic Heritage Month

A create-your-own alebrije craft inspired by Mexican folk art: mix-and-match creature parts, a Roll & Create game, differentiated writing and a gallery display.

Suitable for
Kindergarten–7th Grade
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Learning goals

  • Learn what alebrijes are and where they come from
  • Combine animal features to design an original fantasy creature
  • Use color and pattern like folk artists
  • Describe their creature in writing, from sentence starters to stories
  • Reflect on their art and share it in a gallery walk

Preview pages

What’s included

  • Teacher guide, student visual directions and What Is an Alebrije?
  • Mexican folk art inspiration and color and pattern planning
  • 8 body choices, 12 head choices, ears, horns, wings, fins, tails, legs and facial details
  • Decorative folk-art-inspired patterns, Build Your Alebrije mat and Design Your Own page
  • Roll & Create Alebrije game
  • Plan, describe, story, artist statement, reflection and gallery walk writing pages
  • Display banners, student labels and finished example creatures
  • No-scissors option, low-ink templates and a blank design-your-own option
  • 38 pages (US Letter landscape)

Materials and preparation

  • Crayons, markers or colored pencils
  • Scissors
  • Glue sticks
  • A die for the Roll & Create game

Read the teacher guide, print the creature parts you need and choose the writing level for your students. Low-ink and no-scissors options are included for younger learners.

How to use it

  1. Introduce alebrijes with the What Is an Alebrije? and folk art inspiration pages.
  2. Students roll the die or choose their creature parts, then plan their colors and patterns.
  3. Color, cut and build the creature on the Build Your Alebrije mat.
  4. Name the alebrije and complete the writing page that fits the grade level.
  5. Display the creatures with the banners and hold a gallery walk.

A note on culture

Share where alebrijes come from and name the artisans and places connected to them, so students understand that they are learning from a living Mexican art tradition.

Adaptations

  • PreK–K: color, choose, cut and build, using the no-scissors option if needed.
  • Grades 1–2: name the creature and complete simple sentence starters.
  • Grades 3–7: plan combinations, write descriptions or stories and an artist statement.

Questions

Which grades can use it?

The TPT listing covers kindergarten to 7th grade, with different levels of support for each age.

What page size is it?

US Letter landscape (11 × 8.5 inches), 38 printable pages.

Get this resource

Create Your Own Alebrije: Mexican Folk Art Craft for Hispanic Heritage Month is available from our store on Teachers Pay Teachers.

View Resource on TPT

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