When you go travelling with your children, children have opportunities to learn about the physical characteristics of the local environment as a foundation for learning geography. For example, when you go to a beach, children can make a river for water to flow through the sand at the beach. They would dig a path and pour buckets of water to see where the water would travel.
Also, children will have the concept of maps when you visit new places. Children then will draw a treasure map or a map of their own houses as a pretend play. In the process of creating their own maps, children get the chance to learn features like mountains, rivers and other major landmarks. Moreover, children will learn how to choose the appropriate form of transportation to talk about how they would get from one place to another.
One of the geography books I highly recommend is Maps by Aleksandra Mizielinska and Daniel Mizielinski. Children will learn different country’s history, culture, and geological features from this book. After reading this book, children can use clay or playdough to build what they see, such as bridges, sun, river, and trees. Similarly, children can use building blocks to build a map.
Here is a website for you to download some map fun worksheets.
One of the most common transportation we use for travel is airplanes. Building paper airplanes and testing the planes enable children to wonder about factors that affect aircrafts. Children would make observations, ask questions, make inferences and draw conclusions about air current. High-Flying Paper Airplanes by E. Richard Churchill provides various methods to make paper airplanes. In addition, children will be able to learn some scientific terminology along with the process.
Want to make a spectacular paper airplane? Check out this video from a World Record Paper Airplane Designer.
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