Big Hero 6: Encourage Imaginative Play By Creating Your Own City

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My boys are huge fans of movies. And typically anything from Disney or Pixar is on our must watch list. This included Big Hero 6 when it launched in stores in 2015. 

About Big Hero 6

14-year-old robotics genius Hiro Hamada (Potter) spends his days being a typical teenager, getting into fights and struggling to cope with his changing body.

When his older brother Tadashi (Daniel Henney) becomes concerned that his brother is wasting his potential, he takes him to the robotics lab at his university where he introduces him to Baymax (Adsit), an inflatable robot created and developed by Tadashi himself.

Programmed to take care of humans, Baymax starts to work with Hiro and encourages him to focus on his invention of microbots.

When Hiro and Baymax discover that someone has been copying his ideas and creating microbots of their own, the pair team up to find the masked assailant. 

 

Features of the Big Hero 6 Blu-Ray/DVD Set

The exclusive bonus DVD called to this homeschooling mom’s heart as it digs into the science of Big Hero 6 where you can explore Baymax and Hiro’s high-tech world.

I also like that the Big Hero 6 Blu-Ray/DVD + Gift With Purchase Set includes a digital movie on Vudu (while supplies last!) Simply scan your receipt using the Savings Catcher in the Walmart app. Then look for a message on your phone or email. Now you can watch Big Hero 6 on any device!  Movies on the go can be quite handy when my younger boys get ‘bored.’

Once Big Hero 6 came into the house, the boys were bugging for when we could do a movie night to watch it. 

Their older brothers had indicated a desire to watch Big Hero 6, but they were on a school trip for the week.

Patience is not a virtue the boys have perfected even if they know that we typically have a movie night with all family members present. 

In the end, their excitement was catchy. So, I gave in and let the younger 2 boys have a movie night with just mom.

The film is a blast and the boys have also been enjoying the Big Hero 6: Battle in the Bay Nintendo 3DS game. 

While watching the movie, I was inspired to encourage imaginative play by having the boys create their own city.

 San Fransokyo looks like a fun place to be and I know that the boys enjoy all things super hero. 

Creating their own city from materials we have in the house (e.g. building blocks, Playmobil, etc.)  provides them a fun activity which can easily occupy an afternoon. And, it engages them in learning as they walk through the process.

So, on a rather dreary weekend afternoon while their big brothers were still gone, we pulled together our supplies and put our imagination to work!

 

How to Encourage Imaginative Play By Creating Your Own City

Step 1: Make a list of what types of structures will be in your city.

Step 2: Plan your layout for the city. (I’ll have a free download at the end of the post with graph paper as seen below.) Since we were making a back drop for the city using a foam display board, part of the planning included the cityscape made from colored paper.

 

Step 3: Gather up your building supplies.

Step 4: Begin putting together your base pieces to match the original layout.

Step 5: Continue building the structures UP. Or, if you child is younger, they can just build in place and move it all later.

Step 6: Grab those mini-figures and cars to start enjoying your custom dream city.  It can be fun pulling together items in your own house to make it all work.  You’ll see a mixture of LEGO sets, Playmobil characters and even a small ‘army’ of duckies.  Given their love of super heroes, we had a jail for the bad guys and the evil pirate captain shimmied his way up the tower trying to escape.
 

For those that want to use this as a building block for studies at home, I’ve made a printable graph for planning and include the steps in the file as well. Just click on the image below to get the download.

 

 

Has your family watched Big Hero 6 yet?

Do your kids like to build on a BIG scale at home?

 

More Activities for Big Hero 6

Disney has a few activities on their website, including making Baymax cookies.

Mrs. Kathy King has a Free Big Hero 6 Science Experiment Download Pack.