How to Teach Geography to Kids
Geography for kids: start with your own street, expand to your town, country, continent, world. Maps, globes, and stories about places.
Geography starts with the child's own world and expands outwards. Trying to teach a five-year-old the capitals of Europe before they can draw a map of their own garden is pointless. Start with here. Draw a map of the bedroom. Then the house. Then the street. Every expansion adds one new concept.
Use a globe, not just maps. A child who only ever sees a flat world map grows up thinking Greenland is the size of Africa (it isn't — it's smaller than Argentina). Globes show shape and scale correctly. Spend time turning it, pointing out continents, oceans, and where family members live.
Then layer in stories. Geography without stories is a list of names; geography with stories is the adventure of the world. Read about children in other countries, look at photos of their homes, their food, their schools. The child will absorb place names through narrative in a way that drill never achieves.
Practise With These Free Games
Printable Worksheets to Go With This Guide
Frequently Asked Questions
At what age should children learn countries?+
Recognising continents around age 5 to 6. Naming major countries and capitals in Year 3 to 5 (ages 8 to 10).
Globes or maps?+
Both. Globes for true shape and scale; maps for detail and portability. A child should regularly see both.
What's the best first map?+
A map of your own house or street, drawn by the child. It builds the concept of what a map is — a view from above.
Is memorising capitals useful?+
Modestly. Capital-knowledge is less important than understanding why cities are where they are (rivers, coastlines, borders) — that's the real geography.