I think it is important to make learning fun for children. It doesn’t matter whether this is teaching them a second language, helping them get their pen licence (don’t get me started on this) or learning about the world in which we live, it should always have an element of fun. Now geography is not my strong point and I hate to admit it but my sat nav is an absolute necessity when ever I leave our village. I literally have no sense of direction at all and get lost a lot. So when my eldest son started showing an interest in learning about the world I knew I had to do something to encourage his thirst for knowledge without embarrassing my self too much and still keeping it fun and exciting and not too “school like”. So I came up with this fun way to teach geography at home and on a budget.
How to teach geography to kids
I came up with the following idea and it has proved to be very popular.
I bought a large map of the world and stuck it up on my office wall, then as a family we placed coloured stickers on all the places we had been. We had a family colour and individual colours for their dad and I.
Not only did the boys enjoy this but my eldest was fascinated with where these places were in relation to one another, what seas and oceans we had crossed and of course where we could visit next.
This has been a great little starter activity for geography and better yet I am safe in the knowledge that if either boy asks any more questions along the lines of “where in the world is…” we can go and discover the answer together.
A cheap, easy and fun way to start teaching geography and learning together as a family.
If you have more space then we do then you absolutely need to check out the map murals that you get as they really would be an upgrade on this geography lesson.
Do you have any teaching and learning tricks or tips? They don’t have to be for geography related. Maybe teaching your child to speak a new language is your thing, or helping them with the key stage 1 and sats, or how to tell the time. What ever the educational tips let me know in the comments below.