We've read The Little Man in the Map
While he's still in the process of learning all 50 States, we recently picked up a book called: Puzzle Maps: U.S.A. by Nancy Clouse.
It's an older book and was on an end shelf at our library. It caught my eye so I picked it up and I am glad I did. It is a really neat book! It addresses that maps may be all different sizes and colors, but the shapes of the states never change. The author then uses the shapes to make different pictures! It is a very creative approach to Geography!
Geography Games for Kids
Here is what we created:
Can you guess what State this is? |
These 5 States make a Rooster! Do you "see" it?! |
Do you know what 11 States make up this dog?! |
Neat, huh?!
For another Geography activity, I came across the idea of putting treats on the different States and as T names them, he can keep the treat-- which I thought was a great incentive, but it also resulted in a sugar high! So, I had to re-think the concept a little bit and used it with our Scrambled States and Melissa and Doug Money Set-- no sugar high and he's learning to count money in the process!
Here's what we did:
We set up our puzzle and laid pennies, nickels, dimes, and a quarter (on our home state) on the 50 States. We used more pennies than nickels or dimes to practice making change.
We played Scrambled States
f you don't have the game, this may sound a bit confusing! As we make a pile of our State cards, we also take the coin off that State.
Check out my Social Studies: Geography/ History Pinterest board for more ideas!
I'd love for you to follow along so you never miss out on one of our fun activities we share at School Time Snippets!