Great Resources and Ideas to Make Geography Rock Your Homeschool!
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You might know from my last two posts that we're using Bright Ideas Press' North Star Geography this year. I gave an overview of the curriculum in this post, and talked about how we're using it here.
Now it's time for some geography resources and ideas, even if you're using something else. Pull the stuff you love and ditch the rest. You'll be able to rock your homeschool if you do what's best for you.
Hands-On Geography Ideas
- Create your own atlas. Work on one map per week and compile them in a binder.
- Bake a sugar cookie map in the shape of whatever country or land mass you want. You can mark major cities with chocolate chips and pipe water with blue frosting if you like. We've done these very simply but you can go completey elaborate if you like!
- Create a papier-mâché globe like this one from Lakeside Learning.
- Cook a meal using recipes from a country you've always wanted to visit.
- Use chalk pastels to draw landmarks from all over the world.
- Make this great world flag garland and hang it in your house.
- Create salt dough maps, which are great for showing topography. My friend Jimmie has a super helpful tutorial for making salt dough maps here.
- Take plenty of day trips, including visiting natural history museums, garbage management plants, and cultural centers. If your city has an international fair, that's a great place to experience different cultures and food.
-Take virtual trips around the world, too!
Geography Read-Alouds
Many geography-related read-alouds cross over with historical fiction. You can find my extensive lists of historical fiction in this post about The Mystery of History Volume I (Ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome), The Mystery of History Volume II (Medieval History), and The Mystery of History Volume III (Renaissance and Reformation).
Other Great Fiction With Tie-Ins to Geography
The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet
Great Non-Fiction Geography Books for Kids
Eat Your Way Through the U.S.A.
Geography Games and Puzzles
By far, one of the best resources for learning geography that we have used in our home is The Adventurous Mailbox, a subscription that arrives in your mailbox with your kids' names on it. You can read my full review of The Adventurous Mailbox here.
Ravensburger World Puzzle Map (This one is 60 pieces and not overwhelming for kids!)
