4 Easy Ways To Make Geography Fun!
Are you looking for easy ways to incorporate geography into your homeschool more consistently? Maybe you need tips on where to begin. Or maybe, you need tips on how to make it more engaging and fun? Below you will find four easy ways to help incorporate geography into your homeschool more consistently, and make it engaging and fun! You will also find some activities and printable resources.
And because I am all about function here, you’ll also be able to use these suggestions to make your geography lessons work better for you!
Back in the day, haha, when I was in public school, I couldn’t care less about geography. I learned what was required but didn’t find it anywhere near as interesting as I do now. I have come to realize, in part, that maybe it wasn’t taught to me in a very productive way- with much engagement…
…or fun.
So when my kids became old enough to learn about geography, I knew I wanted to teach them in a way that would make them enjoy learning about the world and places within it. And maybe even present the information in such a way that they would enjoy sharing it with others. Hell yeah!
LOTS OF TRIAL-AND-ERROR
As with anything homeschool-related, you may not always find the option that works best for you or your kid(s) from the start. This was the case with our geography lessons. My kids do a mixture of work online and offline each week. Their online geography classes cover the physical attributes of the Earth and how those attributes affect the cultures and economies of people living in certain areas.
But I wanted to add in the more easy, fun aspects of learning about our world. Like how many countries/territories are a part of each continent. Or where the Sahara Desert is located and how big it is. I mean, just look how big it is!
And then there are the fun facts. I love learning and teaching fun facts about places we study. Believe me, I have a huge Google Sheets workbook loaded with such info.
It didn’t all come together perfectly when we started though so with lots of trial and error, I was able to create a list of 4 easy ways to make geography fun, including tips, activities, and assignments that my kids really enjoy participating in that I’m confident you’ll find quite helpful as well.
So What Are These 4 Easy Ways To Make Geography Fun?
- You are enthusiastic when presenting the information.
- When the information is given in small doses, consistently.
- When fun facts are presented in an understandable way (simple bits of info they can easily remember).
- When it is fun. This one is easier than you think.
LET’S TAKE IT ONE STEP AT A TIME
1. ENTHUSIASM
When kids sit and watch someone talk in a lecture form, especially younger kids, they tend to check out and miss a large portion of wonderful information. You can sort of watch their eyes glaze over or start to wander around the room for something more interesting. But when you are enthusiastic about the materials being covered, kids will become more engaged and very interested to know what you are so excited to share with them.
The first easy step to making geography fun is to use your natural illustrators- meaning, when you’re speaking, use your hands and arms and facial expressions. Kids are very good at studying the facial expressions and body language of those they are listening to, so when you are using your natural illustrators, kids will be more engaged and interested.
Believe me when I say I understand there are just some subjects you won’t be interested in teaching so, even if geography isn’t your thing, the world is vast. There has to be someplace in the world you find interesting. Pick that place and start there.
Here is a place you may find interesting to use as a starting point:
Snake Island (Ilha da Queimada Grande), is an island off the coast of Brazil that is home to between 2,000 and 4,000 golden lancehead pit viper snakes. Now that’s a lot of snakes!
You could even use this fun fact about these snakes to branch out into a zoology study. Now that’s functional as fuck!
2. SMALL DOSES- CONSISTENTLY
Like most thing things in life, school is much easier to work through in smaller chunks. Just look at how many years we all attended school, not including college. Your kid’s head might just explode if you tried to teach them 12+ years of information all at once. Imagine how exhausting that would be for you, the one trying to gather, organize, and teach all that information. Wow!
I’m exhausted just at the thought!
Teaching geography is no different. There are many places around the world to learn about. Think about it, there are 54 countries in Africa alone! You can even incorporate so many other aspects of geography while learning about places. Think: directional markers on a compass rose, the equator, or the prime meridian to help your kids learn different areas of a globe or map…
…A little at a time.
Introducing geographical terms, even at a young age, in small doses, is simple and will make those terms less confusing when they appear in older grades. But keep it simple. Test the amount of time you’ll have their attention for studying places all around the world and stick to that time frame. If you find that 10 minutes is all the attention span they have at a time, run with that. Break it up in whatever way is functional for you, and them.
You have that power!
And, it doesn’t have to be in any logical order. I mean, when in life are things linear? Make that shit functional, for you! Just be consistent with it. Small chunks, many times.
3. FUN FACTS
Another super-easy way to get kids more engaged in geography is to incorporate fun facts. These are exactly what they sound like- little bits of fun, factual information that kids can easily remember. Fun bits of information that can then be shared with friends and family. Below I have listed several to get you started.
Examples:
- Baffin Island in Canada is home to three different mountains with Norse mythology names- Mt. Odin, Mt. Thor, and Mt. Asgard! Hello, Marvel characters relevance! And think of all the places you could go from there.
- Tristan Da Cunha, whose capital is Edinburg of the Seven Seas (come on, that’s cool!), is the most remote, inhabited island in the world.
- Mauritius Island is the only known habitat of the extinct dodo bird.
- In Gao, Mali there is a Prime Meridian marker, so a person can be touching two hemispheres of the Earth at one time. It’s one of only eight countries in the world with this distinction!
- Peru is home to the Ausangate Mountains (aka- the Rainbow Mountains) which are mountains that look like a rainbow.
- One can technically walk from the USA to Russia in the winter as the water freezes between Little Diomede Island (aka, Yesterday Isle) and Big Diomede Island (aka, Tomorrow Isle).
- Crater Lake in Oregon is the deepest lake in the USA and was created when the volcano Mount Mazama collapsed over 7,700 years ago!
4. MAKE IT FUN
This is one of my favorite parts of teaching geography and, I promise, one that will come more easily if you incorporate my other tips.
I mentioned natural illustrators earlier. Using your hands and arms and facial expressions, which you always carry with you (wink), to show enthusiasm for a topic/place of interest, is a good way to garner engagement. You can also use those illustrators to make things fun. Think funny faces or flapping your arms or snapping your fingers or laughter.
I have, more than once, explained rotation and orbit to my children using them as my illustrators having them pretend to be a planet and rotate on their axis while they orbit the sun. This one always brings smiles and allows much-needed movement into our day.
But there are plenty of other types of illustrators to use as well. Something that will help illustrate the point of your lesson. Here is a small list of illustrators I’ve used and recommend incorporating into your geography lessons:
- Maps
- Globes
- Magnifying glasses
- Microscopes
- Telescopes
- Puzzles- especially large floor puzzles
- Games such as The Scrambled States of America or Crazy States card game
- Worksheets
- WhiteboardsFoam balls and paint
- Internet scavenger hunts and searches
- Apps like Stack the States 1, Stack the States 2, and Stack the Countries
You can incorporate so many of these in different ways to create movement in your lesson and make it more engaging and fun!
But wait! I’ve included a few examples of how to use some of them:
Globe Seek-n-Find
Use a magnifying glass to search for something small on the globe like a certain river in the USA or a landline between two countries in Europe. The magnifying glass makes it more fun.
Create a list of interesting places and have your kids try to find them on the globe. If hints are needed, use directional markers (North, South, East, West) or hemispheres or other locations surrounding the area to help narrow their search.
Below is a great resource I’ve created and used many times with my kids.
Play the Scrambled States Game
This game is one of my kids’ favorites. It incorporates so many lessons into one game. Your kid won’t even realize the information they are learning, and that makes for a HUGE parent win!
It covers USA states’ names, capitals, and nicknames. In addition to that, kids will get a map of their own to use as a reference during the game so they will learn the shapes of the states and where they are located on the USA map.
Kids even get a chance to use directional markers and measuring to determine which state is North or South or closest to another state.
They will also get lessons in spelling and reinforcement of vowels and consonants.
I’m all about how functional this game is!
Worksheets
Some kids really love to complete worksheets. My kids are in this category, so below are a few of the worksheets I’ve developed to use for my kids. If your kids like completing worksheets, then I know they’ll love these too!
I often use the information from them in addition to other activities so they have a lot of uses. Incorporate them into your homeschool in a way that’s functional for you! As I always say,
“Make that shit work for you!”
RESOURCES AND WORKSHEETS COMING SOON.
