Geography Fun Helps Preschool Kids

With a rug and a few

 Ready to Travel in Newly Built Cities

small cars and trucks, families can teach geography and economic concepts that will be used throughout their lives.
 To make the geography rug gather a relatively smooth large rug, small cars and trucks, plastic animals, Lego type blocks, blue and tan masking tape, towels and shoes. 

Build Hills & Valleys

Making the Scene
  Spread a rug on the floor or table. Explain to children that they will be making a town. The location may be real or imaginary. What will the place look like?  Are there hills and valleys? Are there rivers and lakes? Older children can make a topographic rug map of the United States with the mountain, Great Plains, rivers, and cities.
  Explain that land is not usually flat. There are geographic features on the place like hills, mountains, and rivers. Tuck towels and shoes underneath the rug to make these bumps with valleys between. Cake pans or plates underneath can make plains.
Add rivers with blue masking tape. Point out to

Build Lego Buildings

children that rivers flow down hill and end in the lowest point. Children can cut out lakes and ponds from blue paper.
 Add Human Features
   Create features humans have added to their environment. Tan masking tape can be paths, streets, and highways.
  Help children make a list of the buildings and other places they can make from Lego–type blocks and cardboard like stores, hospitals, schools, churches, parks, homes, and bridges. Add them and any small plastic animals you may have to the rug.
   How are people going to interact with each other and their environment in the city you have created? Is the grocer out of oranges and calling for a truck to bring them to the store? There are many stories to create adding action to play time.

Add Cars, Planes, Trucks

  There is constant movement. Trucks carry fruits, vegetables, milk, lumber and cars from one location to another.  Garbage trucks carry wastes to landfill. Fire trucks, ambulances, and police come to the rescue when there are accidents.  Sometimes police hand out speeding tickets.
  Where are people going? Do some need help? Are roads blocked and need repair or plowing? Use cotton balls for snow. Ask is this place like other regions?
  When children are finished, the geography/economic rug can be stored in a container for next time.
 Richard Scarry’s Busy Town books are excellent to introduce economics, and community helpers for this activity. Libraries have many books to help families teach more about the Five Themes of Geography: location, place, human relationships with the environment, movement, and regional similarities and differences that are also taught in schools. While on family trips use the Five Themes to teach all about the areas visited. This is a great way to organize pictures for a family vacation book.
photos: Fran Darling, fdarling fotos
More Ideas and Activities....See the authors’ book “Learning Through the Seasons” at area bookstores and grandparentsteachtoo.org. For more help to prepare young children for success in school see the authors’ web site: www.grandparentsteachtoo.org. Also check our audio Podcasts WNMU Radio 90; Youtube video activities; and join us on Pinterest