Category Archives: General Geography
Nesting Cans
Teaching the concept of your city is in your state…is in your country…is in your continent…is in the world can be such a tough topic for youngsters. My kids still get mixed up on cities, states, and countries sometimes. Mandy … Continue reading
The North Pole May Not Be As Far Away As You Thought
For a fun twist on geography, instead of learning all about one place in the world, pick a theme and see how many places in the world have names around your theme. Since it’s Christmas time, right now you could search for places named, North … Continue reading
Made In . . . Trade Around the World
Once you get all those Christmas gifts try this geography lesson. Print out a map, use a globe, or use a wall map of the world. See where each thing you and your family members received for Christmas was made. … Continue reading
Rain on the Plain
Grasslands can have extreme weather from icy, windy, cold, winters to blazing hot, dusty, summers. They can have torrential downpours of rain and they can have droughts that last for months or even decades, threatening all life. Make a weather … Continue reading
Using Food To Teach Geography
When we learn about a country as a family, we almost always cook food from that country. The food a people eats tells you a lot about them and is central to culture. Think about it, how important is food … Continue reading
Landforms Memory Game
Landforms are features of the Earth itself: rock, soil, sand, water, and the shapes they make. Waterfalls, canyons, fjords, peninsulas, sand dunes, and streams plus many more are all landforms. The science of the shape of Earth’s features can get … Continue reading
Desert Landscape Pop-up Card
Make a card that pops up into a desert landscape when you open it. Begin with a piece of card stock or construction paper. Fold the paper in half and cut two sets of slits into the paper on the … Continue reading
Japan’s Mountains
There was a time when I believed in order to educate children I had to touch on everything. . . all the facets of every subject. What if I missed something? What if there were holes in their education? The … Continue reading
Ocean in a Bottle
Studying the ocean with kids is awesome because there is so much to explore. There’s also a lot we don’t know about the ocean; use those things to spark great discussions and creative thinking. This is a simple experiment that … Continue reading
Africa in Cookie Dough
Here’s a fun activity to make a continent study fun. Mix up some sugar dough and let it cool for the customary 3 hours in the fridge. Have it ready for your activity time. Get out a map of Africa … Continue reading
Food World Tour
Years ago we my family hosted 2 foreign exchange students from Japan and one of the first things they asked about was if they could try American candy. They brought Japanese candy for us to try too. Food is very, … Continue reading
Edible Maps
We make a lot of maps during our history and geography studies. A lot. Maps are very revealing. They tell stories about what was happening in history at the time. Just recently I was telling my kids about my junior … Continue reading
Latitude and Longitude
Created to aid in navigation, particularly at sea, latitude and longitude are basic bits of knowledge that kids should pick up at some point in their schooling. They can also be boring little bits. Here are a few fun ideas to … Continue reading
Desert Adventure Map
Here’s an activity to do when you’re learning about deserts. First start by talking about what a desert is, where they are located and some of the things you might find in a desert. This would be great time to read a book about … Continue reading
John Harrison and the Greatest Contest Ever
John Harrison The greatest problem of the eighteenth century was the problem of longitude. European countries were busy making their fortunes through trade and the forefront of this great commercial enterprise was Britain. Britain had the greatest navy in the world and the most far flung and profitable colonies … Continue reading
Coastal Formations
Blue Grotto, Capri, Italy Coasts are defined by the action of the sea upon them more than anything else. Coastal formations like sea stacks, arches, beaches, sea caves, stumps, and blowholes, are formed through the repeated pounding of the sea on a rocky coast. … Continue reading
Igloo Exploration
When I was a kid we had one particular winter I remember that had record snowfalls. We spent oodles of time sledding on a giant hill in our neighborhood, building snowmen, and making snow angels. We even made a huge … Continue reading
Christmas Island
Christmas Island is a territory of Australia and lies over 1000 miles northwest of Perth, Australia. It has a small population of around 1400 people. Most of the island is still in a state of pristine nature, including the Christmas Island Nature Preserve, which takes up most of the island. … Continue reading
Christmas Traditions Around the World
Get a map of the world and help your kids find a nation which celebrates Christmas. Next do a little research about the Christmas traditions in that country. Finally do a project or make a recipe for one of those … Continue reading
Where I Live In The Solar System
Young kids can have a hard time understanding multiple layers of location. Make a nesting book to show where you live. The book will have six pages and a cover. Each page will be progressively larger than the last so that the … Continue reading
Travel Brochure
Travel brochures are a great way for kids to record information about neat places around the world. With the internet it’s really easy to find travel information, but it’s still more fun to go find a travel agency. They have … Continue reading
Haunted America
Take a break from your state studies and find these places on a map or in an Atlas of the US: Waverly Hills Sanatorium Waverly Hills Sanatorium, Jefferson County, Kentucky US Air Force Museum, Dayton, Ohio Devil’s Promenade, Hornet, Missouri Winchester … Continue reading
African Savanna Safari
Going on a Safari When studying biomes or Africa take a trip past the savanna of Africa. I did this activity with my kids ranging in age from 11 to 4 (my 13 year old drove the four wheeler while … Continue reading
Geocaching
By now, I’m sure you’ve heard of geocaching, the massive worldwide outdoor treasure hunting with GPS. It’s a perfect family outing. First you need a GPS, luckily they’ve been coming down in price. After you’ve figured out how to see … Continue reading
Glaciers
Glaciers form when snow falls, doesn’t melt, and becomes compressed. It takes a couple of years before any particular snow fall can be considered a glacier. When the snow first begins to compact there are lots of air bubbles so … Continue reading
Caves
We built a “cave” out of blankets and tables in our family room for this fun activity all about caves. As soon as the kids walked in the room they wanted to go explore the cave. But before I would let … Continue reading
Continent Research Form
I frequently take the kiddos to the library for some good old fashioned research. I know, I know…the internet has it all, but there’s just something to the idea of finding things out in a book. Before we go I … Continue reading
Continental Drift
In the 1960′s scientists perfected a theory about the continents on earth. They decided the great plates that make up the continents were not fixed, but rather were drifting. Drifting so much that at one time there had been only … Continue reading
The North Pole
Time to study the Arctic and the North Pole! Get a map of the arctic region and label or study some significant places, like the arctic circle and true north and magnetic north. Now research more and answer some questions … Continue reading
African Folk Tales
Folk tales are a great way to learn more about a culture from either a historical or modern perspective. Here’s a project using an African folk tale from Nigeria, called Anansi and Turtle. It’s a moral tale somewhat like Aesop’s … Continue reading
