Map Making
Materials:
- A large piece of paper (Cartolina is usually good)
- Ruler
- Pencil
- Colored Pencils/ Crayons
Instructions:
Tell your child to choose an area that they would like to make a map of. It can be the school, the garden, the park, an island you've both been to, or just anywhere they would like. Some children like copying a real map, and this is fine too.
1. Create a grid on your paper with the ruler. Make sure the grid has equal squares or cells. Usually you have 1inch by 1inch squares for your grid.
2. Mark the top of your grid with letters, and the sides of your grid with numbers. Each line coming down should have a letter assigned to it, and each horizontal line will have one number assigned to it. Explain to your child that these numbers and letters help them find an area and see how far they are from where they should be going. For example A1 is relatively far from F6.
3. Begin creating the map of your area, drawing the varying terrain and including significant structures or landmarks. If there is a road or roads involved, these should be seen on your map, and given names if possible.
4. Make sure your child is the one creating the map and you are just helping.
5. Test your map! Go on a quest following your child's map to see how it works.
Remember to test the map. This is a very vital step. A working map will be encouraging for your child, and it will further their interest on the topic. It is up to you if you would like to further your child's map making and reading skills by teaching them certain aspects of map reading such as understanding the scale of the map (how much smaller it is compared to the area it represents) or latitudes and longitudes. Simple maps do well for first graders, and map making is a skill that will be taught slowly through the elementary grades so even if you don't advance their study on maps, they will definitely be able to understand how to read it by the time they reach middle school.
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