How to build a paper skyscraper: Architectural activities to keep kids busy at home

British firm Foster + Partners has created a series of templates and guide to teach children some tricks of the trade

British architecture firm Foster + Partners is helping children build everything from a paper skyscraper to a miniature city through a series of templates. Foster + Partners / Twitter

With many families having spent the majority of the past two months indoors, parents might be running out of fun new activities to keep children entertained.

However, one British architecture firm is on hand to teach new skills to little ones.

Foster + Partners, the London architecture and design studio, has launched a new series to teach budding architects some tricks of the trade.

"Over the next few weeks, we will be sharing new activities for children whilst at home, away from school," the firm said on its website earlier this month, as it unveiled its #architecturefromhome initiative.

"We’ll include drawing, making, playing, thinking, reading, watching and other activities to keep them entertained – for at least a few hours."

As part of the series, Foster + Partners has created downloadable templates that teach children a wide range of skills.

The Archi-parts challenge features a template divided into four parts, showing children where to create each layer of a "fantastical skyscraper". The aim is to fold the paper into the four sections, leaving only one visible at a time, and take turns creating a part of the skyscraper, before passing it on to the next player, blindly building the collective tower of your imaginations.

The drawing trees challenge, meanwhile, features a worksheet that teaches children how to sketch like an architect, showing how designers use certain techniques to create perspective.

There are also colouring-in sheets, a guide to creating a 3D skyscraper out of paper blocks, and templates that, when cut out of paper, can be glued together to make a miniature city.

Mini architects are encouraged to share their designs on social media, using the hashtag #architecturefromhome.

"We’d love to see your creations come to life," said the firm.

Foster + Partners was founded in 1967 by Norman Foster, and is behind some of the world's most famous buildings and structures, including London's Millennium Bridge and The Gherkin, London City Hall and the development of Berlin's Reichstag building in 1999.

The company is also responsible for designing developments in the UAE, such as the masterplan for Masdar City in Abu Dhabi and The Index skyscraper in Dubai.

Regionally, Foster+ Partners, which is known for its use of glass and steel, is behind Queen Alia International Airport in Jordan and the Al Faisaliyah Centre in Saudi Arabia.

The company has received the prestigious Stirling Prize three times, most recently in 2018 for its work on Bloomberg London, an office building in the British capital.