Ideas and Resources for Supporting Home Learning: Geography

Enjoy some geography adventures together on screen, from your windows, around the home, outside, on your daily walk.

• What can you see from your window?
  • Can you draw the view?
  • What is there all the time? What changes?
  • Which features are human features? Which are natural?
  • Can you see different things from different windows?
  • Can you do a survey of people, cars, bikes going past?

• Making Maps
  • Can you make maps of different places at home? Can you map your bedroom? How about the space around the house?
  • Can you build a small world, like an island, a castle and the land around it using bits and pieces from around the house? Can you describe it? Can you make a map of it?
  • Try making a map and then making the world!
  • Can you show north on your maps? What is the scale of your map? Give your map a title.

• Boss the Bot!
  • Find someone to play this with or give directions to a toy character. One of you is the boss the other the robot. The robot can only do what the boss says. Can you “safely” direct your robot to go from your room to the kitchen to get you a snack? Can you draw the route? What symbols might you need?

• Map Your Daily Walk
  • Can you make a map of your walk from memory when you get back? It might help if you collect things along the way and stick them to some paper or on a stick; or, you could take some photos to record the walk. Remember to give your map a title. For extra challenge, give you map a scale and show North.

• Digitally Map your Daily Walk 
  • Can you use Google Maps to plot a walk or bike ride before you go on it? What will you see? How far will you go?

• Map the Family
  • Can you locate where your different family and family friends are on a map or atlas? What can they tell you about where they are?
  • Can you find photos, videos and interesting facts about that place?
  • How does it compare to where you are?
  • How can you make a record of everything you collect and find out?

• Whatever the Weather
  • Keep your own weather diary using pictures and symbols. Describe the weather. Check the weather forecast? Record the weather.
  • Investigate the wind with paper streamers. Which direction is the wind blowing? Where’s the windiest place around your home?
  • Try and measure the rain fall. Make chart or map to record your findings. https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/class-clips-video/pshe-eyfs-ks1-go-jetters-environment-weather-and-climate/zfb3scw

• Random Country and Capital
  • Use the online generator to find a country and capital.
  • See if you can locate it on a map.
  • Can you find photos, facts, a 360degree webcam view or a virtual city tour? https://random.country/capital

• Get interested in geography with BBC programmes 
  • Children can often watch episodes on their own and then draw a picture, tell you about the places, or write about them depending on their age. Here are some geography style questions.
  • What’s special about each place?
  • How is it different from other places you know?
  • Where in the world is it? Can you find them on a map, in an atlas or on a globe?
  • How far away is it?
  • Can you use a map to find out?
  • What’s the time there now?
  • What can you see if you zoom in or zoom out?
  • How does a map look different from an aerial image?

See below for a host of useful websites:

EYFS

• cBeebies – Go Jetters plus Check out this article for parents explaining how to encourage your little geographers with Go Jetters! Learn Geography with Go Jetters

• Andy’s Wild Adventures is a nature programme but it also helps children develop a sense of how places, habitats and climate.

KS1

Some of the programmes above still engage this age group and are great conversation starters.

• Play the Pirate Bunnies game and learn names and locations of oceans and continents, parts and capitals of the UK and compass directions.

• Find continents, oceans, volcanoes, parts of the UK with World Geography Games.

•  BBC Bitesize – KS1 Geography: Explore the UK and beyond with …

KS2

Programmes mentioned above for KS1 can also engage pupils in KS2.

• BBC Bitesize – KS2 Geography: Explore lots of different geography topics.

Websites for Primary Geographers

• Try some of these home learning ideas from the Field Studies Council.

• Encounter Education: Field Work Lessons for KS2. Free lessons on soil, habitat and creative exploration.

• Wildlife and Ecology with Stever Backshall: check out either Steve Backshall (youtube) or Steve Backshall (X).

• Geographical Association

Further Activities

• Ten things to do outside, where you live. Download from Mini Maps website.

• Make your own map symbols games.