One of my favorite subjects I taught at co-op was teaching Hands-On Geography. It was such a fun class and the students really enjoyed all of my crazy hands-on activities. Those classes each participated in a Geography Fair. As intimidating as hosting a fair sounds, I promise it’s really easy to host a Geography Fair.
Tips for Hosting a Geography Fair
First, pick a night well in advance. Don’t spring dates on a child who doesn’t even know what a tri-fold display board looks like! And please show them a completed board – don’t assume they know. If you’re still looking for a place to host your fair check with your local church, outside playground / picnic area, community center, etc. If you have a small group keep it intimate at a friend’s house. You can always have it outside in a yard.
Second, and most importantly set rules / guidelines for the students. I made sure the students picked a country we had covered in class. As much as they wanted to do something exotic and wonderful, the point was to expand on what was covered in class – and to also be a place familiar to the other students. I wanted a large country name easy to read. Print your guidelines for everyone so you do not receive a million phone calls from stressed out parents. Because week of fair moms seem to loose their minds.
Third, decide if you want to charge for the event. I’ve noticed when there is a participation fee, even as less as $5, far less parents flake the night of the event. There is nothing worse than planning a big event for 20 interested homeschoolers to have only 2 show up. You can put that money into awards, your co-op treasury, or pay the staff who stayed to keep the lights on.
Decide if there will be awards. One event we created special awards for each student, “most pictures”, “most crafty”, “great displays”, most stats”, etc. We tried to stay away from “best overall” #1 winner as we knew the boards were everyone’s best overall attempt. Instead we found creative award titles. You might just want to give everyone a participation certificate. I’ve made those on Google Docs. As homeschoolers we trained our boys that “a good leader includes everyone” but not everyone earns a blue ribbon. Balance awards with care. I always picked a dad to walk around before the event and award boards / table displays. They enjoyed that than standing around talking to wives.
Be sure if you don’t have a traditional space for displays you have chairs where boards can be set up. But let your students have fun, walk around, dress up, bring (allergy sensitive) treats, etc. The night should be fun! Dress up! But be mindful, don’t put anyone on the spot to speak. Some kids love presenting others just don’t. Make sure the event is more about highlighting the student’s research and work. Some kids will shine with a microphone in hand, or love to dress up – let them host the event.
For the event I created one document with all students names and country for everyone to put in their homeschool portfolios. I spent very little on the events themselves, not including my time. Yet each event turned out to be such a great experience and enjoyable time celebrating our kids’ work.
It’s not difficult to host a Geography Fair, and I promise the parents and students both will absolutely love it! Just be sure students have enough time to work on their boards. And if they’re anything like my kids – give reminders to finish because they put it off until the weekend before. You never know where a love for geography might take your family!
