This is a light hearted look at what you can do to help with some geography revision, or to help teach your child a little bit about the planet we live on.
1. Memory test. Decide what you are going to learn today, whether it be names of all the major rivers in America (the ones on your world map poster anyway), all the countries in Africa, or the oceans of the world. Get stuck in an give yourself or your child a treat when they get them right. If you can, try to do it again the next day to make sure the knowledge stays in.
2. A clever little trick to help you remember a specific set of facts can really help. You can make them up a tongue twister to remember whatever you want.
The five main oceans are the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Antarctic and Arctic. The first letter from each word of this phrase relates to each one,
I Am An Amazing Person
3. How about the seven continents, North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa and Antarctica. Again, the first letter of this phrase is a reminder for each,
Eat An Apple As A Nice Snack
4. Work out the smallest number of countries and seas or oceans you would have to travel through or on to get round the world, or to get from one pole to the other.
5. Close your eyes and point to three different spots on the map. Make up a story linking the places, perhaps deciding on your modes of travel and the people you meet on the way. Good for a bed time story for your child and will get the creative juices flowing.
6. A game for two, shout out a city in one country or continent and respond with one starting with the same first name. You have five seconds to come up with an answer or you forfeit. That bit is up to you.
7. Guess the symbols. Does that little mark mean a lake, marsh, waterfall or reservoir?
8. There are loads of online map games available too. Example include guessing the name of a country with only the shape to go on, linking rivers to continents or countries, and guessing the capital given the country of vice versa.
9. For those days that the weather is uncooperative and you’re looking for indoor activities for kids, try choosing a country with weather you’d like to be enjoying and learn about it. This is great for older kids on school break.