We live in a global society and therefore need to raise global children. Instilling a curiosity and appreciation about the world a child is growing up in should start at an early age and should be fun. In this series of Preschool Geography I want to explore ways to bring the world to your child’s doorstep to discover and explore. Children love learning about new cultures and new places. I love to surround my children with opportunities to explore new lands even if we step no further out than the internet. My children have always loved to study geography and as a person loves to travel I enjoy it as well. One thing I discovered was how difficult it was for my children at a young age to understand where they are in relation to where the country or state they are studying is located. At a young age a child may not understand state borders or what is across the ocean. To give my younger children a better understanding I have implement the use of puzzles.
Puzzles are wonderful learning tools since it requires critical thinking, motor skills, and helps with memory and knowledge retention due to the child having to hold and place the pieces. Our World Puzzle Set by SimplyFun is a favorite geography starting point for my almost 3 year old and my 6 year old. The set includes the 50 states with capitals and state flags, the world, and the solar system. I save the solar system for science lessons. However, it is a nice addition to show our location in space.
Activities and Lessons
United States:
Trace the puzzle piece.
Learn the capitals.
Understand the location of each state.
Understand the location of the state where the child lives.
World:
Learn the continents.
Learn the oceans.
Learn the location of the child’s place in the world as it compares to the location of a country of study.
Solar System (used more for science so for us it was a bonus with the set):
Learn the basic solar system and planets.
Learn where the earth sits in relation to other planets and the sun.