TEN THINGS about Geography with Little Ones

I love LISTS and I love things being organized in box-type containers. A TEN THINGS list is like that! I enjoy writing things in a structured, contained way. You will find links to all the TEN THINGS posts at the end of each. ENJOY!

My hubby and I don’t believe in separating subjects into their particular parts and doing only that subject for half hour slots at a time – but we do love maps and travelling and learning about the world – and so do our children! Here are 10 things we do that has them learning in leaps and bounds about the world at ages 7, 5, 2 and 1!

1. We have various large detailed world maps and country maps that we put on the dining room table under a clear plastic table cover. Great conversation enhancers at mealtimes!

2. We have a big world globe which we love to study and to spin. This not only teaches them about the places but about the time zones, the oceans and how it all works with the moon and sun, seasons, etc.

3. Virtual Travel is something we learnt about from Se7en. What a wonderful idea! We jumped right in and now are always travelling in some or other place – if you meet one of our little ones they’ll probably tell you we are in Alaska this month. We pack our backpacks, make some “fake” money from that country, gather our passports and tickets and during a family fun night Dad will often fly us somewhere – and there we will remain while we learn about that place for a few weeks. We learn a few words in the language, listen to the national anthem, explore the animals and see the people on youtube, cook some food from that country and have a cultural meal and then pray for the people in that country.

4. We have a few large children’s atlases with pictures of animals and other details in each country. These are pored over by our little ones for hours!

5. Actual Travel 🙂 We haven’t travelled too far afield but wherever we go they are so keen to learn the names of the places, oceans and how it all fits together.

6. We have a poster of the Country Names with their flags which is also on the table under the plastic table cover. They love to study this and comment on the strange country names and the unusual flags.

7. We read stories set in different countries – when hubby does it he even gets the accents going!

8. We love to look at Google Earth together! Its incredible to be able to see your own house, the local nature reserve, your extended family’s houses in Belgium and Georgia, USA and see the actual street view. Wow!

9. We love listening to the geography songs CD from Sonlight – awesome!

10. The ANT RACE! Commission one of your children to find a live ant and to bring it to the table. Set it down on a world or country map and then all of you commentate on the ants journey – great way to learn country and city names.