3 Ways To Sneak World Geography Into Your Summer Fun!

(& earn the board game Name That Country …read on to find out how!)*

Shredded carrots tossed into muffin batter. Pureed squash blended into the mac and cheese. Moms are clever. They know how to sneak veggies into all kinds of culinary creations.

Now let’s try this tactic with countries and continents because our kids need well balanced curriculums with plenty of servings of world geography. According to a National Geographic led campaign called My Wonderful World and a National Geographic-Roper Survey, “half of young Americans can’t locate world power countries like Japan and India. Twenty percent can’t even find the Pacific Ocean.” We don’t want our kids to become one of those stats. But how do we sneak it in?

We start with a plan. A strategic battle plan to infiltrate our summer fun with world geography! I think it’s best to start with a simple bite sized plan. So I have thought of…

3 ways to sneak world geography into your summer fun…This is a 3 part series starting with…

1.  Sidewalk Chalk

• Add some purpose to your play and start simple.
• Print out a basic outline map of your state at www.50states.com.
• Look up your state on this site and you’ll find an extensive A-Z list of facts. The outline map printables are found under the “maps” heading. Keep a list handy with your state capital, flag, bird and flower etc.
• Have your child trace the outline of your state on the paper you just printed so they can get an idea of how to draw it. Then let them draw it on a sidewalk, driveway etc. with chalk.
• Label like crazy! Kids can practice spelling their state and start out by labeling the map “Ohio”, or whatever your state may be. Label the state capital with a star, cities with dots, the rough location of your home with a little house etc.
• Move on to your state flag, bird and flower. Keep your cell phone or i-pad handy (or print out pictures ahead of time) and look up www.50states.com again or find another site with this info. Show your child pictures of the flag, bird etc. and let them draw to their heart’s content.
• Work on another state later in the week. Does your child have a friend, cousin or relative who lives in another state? Choose that state to work on next so they can associate what they are learning with something that is meaningful to them.

Join me tomorrow to find out the 2nd way to sneak world geography into your summer fun! The day after that I’ll reveal the 3rd way and finish off the series. And since we’ve been talking about sneaking, I’ll give you a little sneak preview. Tomorrow food will be involved. And on day 3, I’ll explain how to earn that board game I mentioned!

Subscribe to my blog so you don’t miss any of the posts in this series. And please leave me a comment to let me know how the sidewalk chalk maps turn out!