Geography is something that many schools are ignoring these days, but really there are so many fun resources that make teaching geography a breeze!
My kids learned so much just because we had fun resources in the home; I never had to treat it as a school subject. ( I did use one geography book in junior high school, but that’s the only ‘formal book’ I ever used).
Homeschooling offers the opportunity to think creatively and explore unconventional ways of learning. Though book-learning is essential and helpful to many subjects, it isn’t necessarily the only way.
Here are some resources- many that I’ve used through the years- Â that you can use to feed knowledge into your kids about geography in a very fun way!
1. USA Foam Map Puzzle– I love the foam puzzles. The pieces are harder to loose than traditional puzzles, and they’re durable, too!
2. Geopuzzle- World
3. Discovery Kids Talking USA puzzle –  We had an older version of this, and I loved it. The pieces store in a drawer on back of the board. It talks to tell kids the name of the states and capitals.  Even VERY young kids can learn from this one.
Puzzles are great! A couple of my kids absolutely LOVED doing puzzles and learned their states and capitols and countries of the world just from assembling puzzles. Matt loved geography so much that I hung a map of the world by his bed. Each night before bed, he’d ask me to come into his room and quiz him on countries. I would choose several countries to ask him to find and he’d try to find them as quickly as he could. He really looked forward to it each night.
4. World Wall Map – something like this is very similar to what we had.
5. Geosafari Talking Globe Jr.- this globe has multiple games and multiple levels to choose from, so kids can learn on their own. It also has an option to play with another person.
6. Push to Talk World Map – this is new but looks REALLY cool! Great way to teach geography!
7. USA Map Rug 5 x 7– what a great way to learn- a rug for the kids room , playroom or classroom!
8. World Map Bedding Set– My son Matt LOVED geography. He taught his younger sister her continents using a comforter set he had on his bed that had the world divided into continents. I LOVE the concept of filling your home with learning materials and watching learning just happen.
9. Window on the World– I used this book with my kids on a daily basis one year to teach them geography. A real plus was that it taught them how to pray for people groups around the globe. It was so much more than geography, and it also taught them an appreciation for how they live here in America just by seeing how some other folks around the globe live. We would read a section each day and then pray for the people who lived there. It gave prayer guidelines as to what to intelligently pray for.
10. USA Sticker Book– what kids don’t love stickers? They’ll do this one just for fun. I love finding ways to “teach” the kids through interactive, engaging ‘play’.
11. Decorative Globe– we have a lighted globe in our living room on a stand much like the one at this link. It’s always convenient to look and see where a certain country is located. It’s a part of our room decor. When something happens in the news- take your kids to the globe and find the country where the event happened. When a missionary comes to church, take a few minutes to locate the country they’re serving in and then look up facts about that country. Be intentional about these teaching opportunities, and knowledge will quickly accumulate.
Please share with us other kid-proven resources you’ve found helpful to teach geography to your kids!
- Sugar Free Rhubarb Crisp You’ll LOVE - May 25, 2023
- Gluten Free Energy Bites - May 5, 2023
- Bundle Gift - February 16, 2023
What great resources!!
We don’t do computer games at all, but someone recommended seterra.com to us. You can play online, but they also provide a download, so you can play it offline, which we appreciate. They kids can play it as a reward, and also once a week for 15 minutes during school. They have learned so much – down to rivers and the provinces of China!!! And they really like it! It is really neat. They have fun beating Dad and Mama – because they are getting quite fast. : ) Give it a try.
Thanks. We’ll definitely check it out. Had never heard of it before.
We signed up to get emails from Wycliffe kids and we use that as our starting point for geography! Great list here!
Thanks so much for the idea. Sounds great.