We’re past due for this month’s play theme cheat sheet. Ready for another stellar list of ways to play all month long? I chose learning about the world around us for July for two reasons:
- It seemed like a great educational theme to cover while school’s out and so many families are hitting the road for vacation.
- We’ve been watching Discovery Channel’s new series, North America, with C and have all been learning a ton. (Sidenote: I love this program for teaching kids about the continent we live on and for the most part it’s very benign. However, there is the occasional mass frog humping session or shot of Eagles playing frisbee with a duck head. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.)
Here’s a whole gaggle of ideas for teaching kids about the world around them through play. Geography as well as multiculturalism is covered so dig in, enjoy, and happy July!
Activities
- Make jumbo map coloring sheets on the cheap
- Play memory, go fish, or snap with free printable flag cards.
- Print, cut, and fold globe
- Make a geography nesting set.
- Make a USA jigsaw puzzle with this free template.
- Learn why countries fly flags.
- Make montessori style continent bags.
- Make your own globe light or map pendant.
- Make post card geography flashcards.
- Make a felt continent map.
- Make a plantable paper earth.
- Make famous landmark blocks.
- Make map magnets.
- Map the places in the stories your read.
Apps & TV Series
- Flat Stanley
- Geoguessr
- Planet Earth – The complete BBC series
- Discovery Channel’s North America – This is currently airing on TV and C really enjoys it.
Music
- World Music – We’ve listened to this daily in the car for years. Many of the other multicultural CDs from Putumayo Presents are also wonderful!
Books
- Children Just Like Me: A Unique Celebration of Children Around the World
- A Life Like Mine: How Children Live Around the World
- Miroslav Sasek’s “This is…” series. This is London, This is Paris, This is Rome, This is Hong Kong and many, many more!
Toys, Puzzles & Games
- Melissa and Doug USA Floor Puzzle – We have this and my almost 5 year gets really proud when he puts it together, I love that each piece is in the shape of a state instead of a traditional jigsaw shape.
- Toob Around the World Play Set – Toobs are also great for lots of different animal sets from different parts of the world.
- EeBoo USA Bingo game
- LeapFrog LeapReader Interactive World Map (works with Tag Reader)
- Eeboo Life On Earth Matching Game
- Eeboo I Never Forget a Face Matching Game
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Other Play Theme Cheat Sheets:
Ways to Play with Nature (Inside and Out)
Jell-O Playdough - Softest recipe ever!
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