8 Essential Activities for Teaching World Geography
Gathering ideas for teaching world geography and mapping skills can feel tricky, but guess what? Geography, the study of our fascinating planet, and learning about maps can be a total blast for elementary students!
Here are 8 fun activities to get them excited about learning!
Virtual Field Trips (Thanks, Google!)
Remember those View-Master toys? Google Cardboard is like that, but way cooler! Students can take virtual trips and expeditions connected to what they’re learning in geography. Just search “Google Cardboard” online to find out more.
Picture Books
Books are perfect for sparking young imaginations and super helpful when you are teaching world geography and map skills. Share classics like “Me on the Map,” but don’t stop there! Check out these helpful titles too:
- The Boy Who Loved Maps: See the world through a map lover’s eyes.
- Follow That Map!: Join a treasure hunt adventure around the globe.
- Pete the Cat and the Treasure Map: Set sail with Pete in this fun fiction story where he follows a map!
Guess the Place Challenge
Turn a few random minutes into a fun game when you are teaching world geography! Think of a place and have students guess it by asking “yes” or “no” questions within 20 tries (ie 20 questions). For example, “Is it a continent?” or “Is it near the ocean?” This gets them thinking and helps them learn about different places.
Bonus tip: I also like to play 20 questions or a version of it during lunch duty when the lunchroom needs a little calming.
Yummy World Landmarks
Learning can be delicious! Have students research famous landmarks and then create edible models using snacks, cookies, or fruits. This combines geography, creativity, and a tasty treat!
Keep reading for more tips!
Geography Videos
Educational videos can be a great way to add some fun to your lessons. Just make sure you watch them first! Here are two suggestions that are hits with elementary schoolers (but find what works for you!).
- How to Remember the 7 Continents (for kids): this one is funny and catchy
- World Geography made Easy: taught and explained in a way that most kids will understand
Hands-on Globes and Maps:
Let students explore the world with their hands! Give them globes and maps to find countries, continents, and mountains. They can trace routes, mark cool places, and see just how big and amazing our planet is.
Dig Deeper with “World Traveler Passports “
Learning about different cultures is awesome! Have students research topics like food, clothes, and festivals from around the world. They can even make their own “passports” with stickers for each place they “visit” virtually. Your school library likely has handy books to support this research but if not, here are a few suggestions for you:
- All About Japan: Songs, Crafts and Games for Kids
- Kids on Earth: Costa Rica
- Living in India
- Join Me on a Journey to Paris
- All About Indonesia
Ready to Go Activities from Teachers Pay Teachers
Wouldn’t be it easy for you if you had ready-to-use activities and resources from Teachers Pay Teachers when you are teaching world geography and map skills? This geography resource includes 75 pages of fun and engaging world geography activities and map skills practice, games, and more!
The activities include no prep printables, games, and a take home project for students in grades one, two, three. and four.
This resource also has more than 60 reviews on TPT which is great if you’re like me and don’t commit to anything without reading a few reviews. So you don’t have to look them up, here are a few:
Five Star Reviews:
“What an amazing resource. My kids really enjoyed it and the format was good for them.”
“Very nice product! Simple, direct, can’t wait to put it to use! I like that there isn’t fluff to distract from the context! Thank you.”
By using these activities when you are teaching world geography and mapping skills, you can turn memorizing facts into exciting lessons. Your students will become eager to explore the world and learn more!
Other blog posts you may want to check out:
- Tips for Teaching Geography
- Teaching Phonics Skills with Fidget Poppers: Engage and Excite your Students
- How Can Word Riddles Boost Phonics Skills? Crack the Code
- 5 Powerful Tips for Teaching Capitalization and Punctuation
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And also, we are all exhausted from the craziness of back to school, right? Hang in there – you got this!!
