Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Where in the World Do I Live?


Map exploration can be used to show where a child lives and teach geography.
Materials:
map of your area (often found in a phone book)
state map U.S. map world map globe
What to do:
Using the local map, find your child’s street. Point out familiar sites like the library, grocery store, a park, or a museum. Talk about your street and the city where your child lives. Help your child learn the home address by repeating the street name and the city often.
On another day use the state map and show where your city is on the map. Use the state map to point out some familiar sites like a local lake. Practice saying the address and now add the state.
Use another day to show the U. S. map and point out your state. Point out a few interesting places, such as Disneyworld, where the President lives, or a state with lots of sunshine. Talk about the oceans that border the shores of our country. Again practice the address and this time add our country.
Using the map of the world, find our country and backtrack to find the state and city (if possible). Use the globe to discuss that the earth is not flat. Point out where Santa lives
and the route he takes to get to your house. Point out the other side of the world where penguins live.
How will this help young children?
Young children get a glimpse into the big picture of the world. It introduces maps and how to use them.
What else can I do?
Google® maps and show your child the world, state, city and street from space. Zoom in and find your house. Libraries have many books about maps, your area, state and country.
Daevin Scillian’s P is for Passport: A World Alphabetisagreatone.

Watch similar activities on YouTube. Click to view a video with more mapping and model road building activities… While there, you can find other videos on YouTube there or search for Grandparents Teach, Too in YouTube.

Also look for more activities on our website: http://grandparentsteachtoo.org and listen to activities from WNMU Public Radio 90 podcasts at http://wnmufm.org/learningthroughtheseasons 

Picture by Mark Nowicki

No comments:

Post a Comment