This month I’d like to share ideas about using maps with kids in your home. Going to the map to find a place that you are talking about or that you heard mentioned is very satisfying! Lots of kids enjoy knowing the names of countries, being able to find them, or quiz you on your geographical knowledge. Here are some ideas about using maps with children:
Get Maps!
- A world map on the wall
- A US or map with all the states and capitals
- Map puzzles
- Laminated foldable maps of your town
- A globe
- An atlas
- Another atlas
- A stack or book of unmarked maps
Make Maps
- Use a pile of beans or rice and drop a handful on a paper. Trace around it to make an organic island or continent shape.
- Purchase hexagonal chemistry paper as a kind of graph paper for designing places.
- Design fantasy lands or imaginary countries.
- Make a map of your room, house, neighborhood
- Use blocks and tape on the floor to make a map
- Learn about cartography
- Make a hand drawn map based on a satellite image
Map Activities
- Quiz each other–one looking at the map and one not
- Get the game Where in the World for numbered maps and stacks of country cards
- Mark places you’ve been on the map
- Find the places where your family and friends live
- Use clear sticky notes to circle and write info about small places on big maps
- Plan a real or crazy road trip using a road map
- Feel the mountains on a topographical map
- Find where your favorite animals live and put little pictures of them there
- Color a blank map with climate information–where are the rainforests in the world?
- Spin the globe or blindly run your finger along a map until your partner says stop: where are you?
- Have older kids follow along with a paper or gps as you drive
- Toss a globe to each other, catch, and announce what country is directly facing you
Maps on the Screen
- Carmen Sandiego games
- Messing around with Google Earth
- The GeoGuessr game: This is one of my favorite things to do!
- Use Maps app to figure out how long it would take to get places–walking, driving–look at the difference in route
- Explore map features of video games
