I am a bit coo coo about my boys knowing Geography. We live in a time when news from around the world is reported instantly. I think it’s helpful for us to know where exactly things are happening.
Randomly I will present my boys with a Geography Challenge to make sure their geography facts are still sharp.
I might print out a blank continent map and ask them to label everything they know about wherever. Countries, capitals, rivers, and mountain ranges.
Some days I hand them a blank sheet of paper and ask them to draw me all the continent borders, country borders, or state borders. We start real simple. Circles at first then more defined complex lines.
We can sculpt states or make them out of legos. Even salt dough maps. Possibilities are endless for tactile learners. Learning the border shapes have really helped my boys recognize places. They used to love playing Stack the States.
On nice days we’ll take the chalk out and draw giant globes. GIANT! Once finished I’ll quiz them. They stand on each country I call out. Hopping all over the place-to-place provides me with some entertainment too and gets some energy out for them.
Geography Flash Cards we’re definitely fun. You can watch my YouTube video how we made them. We did play Scrambled States of America, but my boys wanted to create their own.
Being part of a great Homeschool co-op, we participate in the annual Geography Fair. I highly recommmend hosting one or having your students participate in it!
If you do not have access to a geography fair, you can have your students create their own country. This is a great hands-on activity creating an imaginary country, currency, wildlife, natural vegetation, imports and exports.