This month a group of Multicultural Kid Bloggers have got together to create an A-Z of raising global citizens. I’ve always found maps really fascinating to study, and remember spending hours leafing through my Weetabix Atlas as a child (anyone else remember that book from the 90s? It was the best!)
So naturally I opted to take M for Maps, and have put together a series of maps printables for children to colour and label.
Looking at maps is a great way for children to visualise their place in the world, and to understand where countries are in relation to each other. When travelling it’s really useful to show a world or continent map to the children and let them see the distance they will be travelling. Recently we have been travelling within Europe with the children so they have been looking at maps of France and Spain.
Z noticed that since Spain is much bigger than the UK, when you see a distance of a few centimetres on a map of Spain, it can take much longer to drive there than it would for the same distance on a map of the UK, which is a first step to understanding scale on a map and how that works in practice.
The map printables I’m sharing today are outline maps focusing on the shape and location of each country, but it’s also interesting to look at terrain maps with children and let them see the mountains, deserts, lakes and other features of different countries. I will share a few recommendations for atlases and map books to share with children at the end of the post.
Map Printables
World Map colouring and continent labelling page
Click to download and print this map
Countries of Europe colouring and labelling page
Click to download and print this map
Labelling France Page
Click to download and print this map
Outline Maps for 7 Countries
Click to download and print these maps
Atlases and Resources about Maps
Click the country link next to each title to see and buy on Amazon (affiliate)
Collins First Atlas: Learn with Maps (UK / US)
Usbourne Children’s Picture Atlas (UK / US)
Children’s World Map Poster (UK / US)
World Map Wall Sticker (UK / US) (the scale is not too accurate on this, I still like it for young children as a fun introduction to maps)
In these Series 24 bloggers of Multicultural Kid Blogs Community got together to share ideas and tips on Raising Global Citizens. Follow us from June 1st to June 26th as we share a letter of the alphabet and an idea associated with it over at Raising Global Citizen Series page!
Creative World of Varya = Bilingual Avenue = The European Mama = Melibelle in = Smart Tinker = Good To Be Mom = Marie’s Pastiche = Third Culture Mama = Tiny Tapping Toes = All Done Monkey = Russian Step By Step = Multilingual Parenting = In The Playroom = Rue Du Belvedere = Discovering the World Through My Son’s Eyes = La Cité des Vents = Faith Seeker Kids = World Languages = The Piri-Piri Lexicon = Healthy Child, Global Mind = Mama Smiles = The Art Curator for Kids = Words n Needles = Multicultural Kitchen = Crazy Little Family Adventures
Anna Marikar, mum of four and seasoned blogger, has spent over a decade sharing her parenting journey and passion for kid-friendly crafts and free printables.
Her easy-to-follow craft ideas and practical parenting advice have transformed In The Playroom into a cherished resource for parents.
Love, love, love the printables!!! thank you for sharing and participating!
Oh these are amazing. I’ve always had an obsession with maps and I still have it now. These are great activity ideas. Thanks so much for sharing x
I am pretty much hopeless at maps. I don’t know where most places are ha ha. But I do think I need to learn more about places so I can tell my kids. x