September 3, 2015
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A great way to practice geography and learn map skills is by creating your own treasure hunt geography games! Your elementary student will have fun with this east to prepare hands-on geography activity.

Geography Games - Make your own treasure hunt! This is such a fun kids activities for Kindergarten, 1st grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, 4th grade, and more! (homeschool, geography)

Make Your Own Treasure Hunt Geography Game

Most geography curriculum begins with learning map skills, such as reading coordinates and cardinal directions.  You can reinforce concepts such a longitude and latitude, by setting up your own treasure hunt; scavenger hunts are a great way to add some fun in your homeschool!
This is a fun, hands on learning activity for elementary age kids!
map skills with make your own treasure hunt
To begin, draw a rough layout of  the main floor of your house.  You could cheat a bit by drawing out the floor plan that you may have received when you bought the house. 

Map Skills

geography games - make your own treasure hunt for elementary age kids

With a rough outline of your house, now you are ready to add lines of longitude and latitude.  Grab a ruler and add lines about 1-inch apart.  Mark the center horizontal line 0 degrees, and label the lines above and below in increments of 10.  Label the horizontal lines above 0 degrees with the symbol N {for North} and the lines below, S {for South}. Label the vertical lines in the same way by making the middle line 0 degrees and label lines to left and right in 10 degree increments.  Use the symbols W {West} for lines to the left and E {East} for lines to the right of 0 degrees.

Hands on Geography – Make your Own Treasure Hunt

Treasure Hunt Geography Lesson

Grab a few envelopes and strips of paper to provide additional clues to help your students find the treasure.


Write the first clue on the map leading to the envelope with the next clue and so forth.  I hid some candy in the last envelope as the treasure. To begin, I called Big Brother {8 years} and Little Sis {4 years} to come downstairs for a scavenger hunt.  I gave Big Brother the map and told him to read the latitude and longitude coordinates at the bottom of the map to find his next clue.

The coordinate led them over to the fireplace.  The next clue led him over to the kitchen….

hands-on-map-skills-geography

They found clue number 4 in the laundry room….

hands-on-geograpgy-map-skills
Their final clue led them to the living room.  They found their way the corner of the room and found their final envelope– a note of “Congratulations” and a piece of candy for each of them!
geography-reading-maps

Big Brother loved this activity and if he hadn’t told a few friends he would be out to play, he would have wanted me to set this up again!  Little Sis of course loved the treasure!  Hope you have fun setting up a scavenger hunt in your homeschool!

 

Geography Books for Kids

                  

FUn books to read on geography for kids.

16 Printable Country Studies for Kids - children will have fun learning about countries around the world with this fun resource perfect for pre k, kindergarten, grade 1, grade 2, grade 3, grade 4, grade 5, and grade 6 including Kenya, Japan, Russia, Sweden, Netherlands, Mexico, China, Philippines, Spain, Italy, Germany, France, Chile, Colombia, Australia, and Costa Rica. FREE Printable Maps for kids -blank maps of the world, africa, asia, australia, south america, north america, united states, antarctica, Europe and more. Include blank maps and labeled maps. Use them with any social studies / geography program with kindergarten, first grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, 4th grade, 5th grade, 6th grade, and 7th grade students to visualize the world at a glance or dive deep into finding countries, continents, rivers / mountains, oceans, etc. Includes both blank printable maps and labeled as well. tralia, united states, europe and more both blank and labeled for kindergarten, first grade, 2nd grade, elementary, middle school, and high school #printablemaps #geography #homeschooling  Make geography come alive by using these free printable passport for kids. Childrne can pretend like they are traveling all around the world as they study and learn about other countries while keeping a record of where they've been. This free printable passport activity is fun for toddler, preschool, pre-k, kindergarten, first grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, and 4th grade students. Inside their passport for kids they can put their picture, personal information, signarure, and informatin about the countries they travel to. Simply print pdf the free printable passport for kids file and you are ready to go around the world! FREE Lego Challenge Cards - free printable STEAM education uses lego or duplo bricks to help students learn about famous buildings and landmarks from around the world. This fun learning activity is great for parents, teachers, school at home and homeschoolers from preschool, pre k, kindergarten, first grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, 4th grade, 5th grade, 6th grade, 7th grade, and 8th grade students.

Geography for Kids

Looking for more resources and free worksheets to teach students about geography for kids? You will love these coloring sheets, printable maps, books, activities and games:

us presidents coloring pagesIt is important to teach children about how we elect the president of the United States of America. This simple, no prep Voting for Kids reader will help pre k, kindergarten, first grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, 4th grade, 5th grade, and 6th grade students. This printable election book is perfect for preparing children for November elections! Kids will have fun learning about the United States for Kids with these super cute state coloring pages. Each of the free printable, 50 states coloring pages includes a state map, state flags, state flower, state bird, state landmark, and more. Use the united states coloring page with preschool, pre-k, kindergarten, first grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, and 4th graders. These Simply print 50 states coloring pages pdf and you are ready to play and learn about the usa for kids!  american-symbols-for-kids-read-color-and-learn

United States Lesson for Kids

Help children learn about the great country of the United States with these free printables and resources:

Explore Old MacDonald's farm, the tractors, equipment, and all the cute baby animals with this Farm Scavenger Hunt. This farm scavenger hunt printable allows children to search for different farm themed items such as a chicken, barn, hay bales and goats. This farm animal scavenger hunt is fun for toddler, preschool, pre-k, kindergarten, first grade, 2nd grade, and 3rd grade students as it contains not only the name, but a cute picture too.  Simply print pdf file with farm printables in color or black and white and you are ready to play with this printable scavenger hunt that is an outrageously fun farm activity for kids. FREE Printable library scavenger hunts for kids Spring is the time for field trips to the local zoo. In an attempt to make our homeschool field trips extra fun (and educational) I created these super cute, zoo scavenger hunt templates. We have lots of choices with these zoo scavenger hunt printable pack to accomidate kids of all ages from toddler, preschool, pre-k, kindergarten to elementary age students in first grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, 4th grade, 5th grade, and 6th grade students. Whether you use the simple animal scavenger hunt or learn about endagered animals or animal habitats in one of these zoo scavenger hunt ideas - kids will have fun learning about zoology in science. Simply print free printable scavenger hunt pdf file and you are ready to learn about animals with this printable scavenger hunt at your local zoo. Are you ready for an EPIC list of kids scavenger hunt possibilities? Whether you are looking for a fun boredom buster idea, a way to get the kids outside, or something active to do when you are stuck inside, there is a fun scavenger hunts for kids on this list that is perfect for every occasion! In fact, we have over 75 free scavenger hunt ideas for toddler, preschool, pre-k, kindergarten, first grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, 4th grade, 5th grade, and 6th grade students. Kids will enjoy exploring the state park or campground with this free printable camping scavenger hunt. This camping scavenger hunt for kids will have children searching for different shaped items such as a flashlight, tent, campfire, and more. This free printable scavenger hunt is fun for toddler, preschool, pre-k, kindergarten, first grade, 2nd grade, and 3rd grade students as it contains not only the name, but a cute picture too.  Simply print camping scavenger hunt printable pdf file with camping activity for kids in color or black and white and you are ready to play!

Free Printable Scavenger Hunt

Looking for ways to help teach and entertain kids at the same time? You will love these printable scavenger hunts for elementary age kids.

Seasonal Scavenger Hunts

 

Kristina once thought of going into education, but changed her mind a few years in to her degree. Ironically, she now has her hands full as a homeschooling mother of four. With children of various ages from infant to 7, she shares a variety of educational and play activities for babies, toddlers, preschoolers, and early elementary aged children on her blog,

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2 Comments

  1. This is brilliant Beth! I love all your resources and ideas. Thanks so much for generously sharing them with us!

    Reply

  2. I can imagine my girls running around the house already! It’s a clever activity, thank you for the idea!

    Reply