Activity:
Map Your Route
Does your child know how to read a map? Teach this important skill with an activity that makes map reading and map creating practical and fun! Your child will learn how to make a map of his route to school, complete with landmarks and buildings that are important to him.
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What You Need:
- Paper
- Pencil
- Crayons or markers
What You Do:
- Have your son describe the route that he takes to school. Can he tell you which way he turns onto each street? Does he remember all the street names? Explain to him that he is going to make a map – a picture of the route he takes to school.
- Give your son paper and pencil and have him draw a square for your house. Next, have him add your street. Help him create the rest of the route, carefully adding in each turn. It would be helpful to take a drive along his school route to jog his memory. If not, you can fill in the details for him that he may not remember. Continue until he has drawn all the streets leading to his school.
- Now its time to label the map. Have your son label the streets. Encourage him to add buildings and structures that stand out to him. These can anything from fire stations to ice cream shops. It's up to him!
- Color in the map. Your child can even add red stop signs and red, yellow and green stop lights. As he works, help him make a legend that shows what each of these colors and shapes represent.
- Does your son sometimes take a different route home? Maybe he often walks to a friend's house from school. Reinforce the lesson with additional maps.
