Friday, March 20, 2015

Map Learning with Planes!

When we moved to our new place, one of the first things I bought for Chuck's new "big boy" room was a large world map.  I intended to teach him about all the different places and people in the world.  Well....  lots of other things came up and that dream never quite panned out.  That's why I was excited for this week's preschool collaborator challenge.  It's all about map learning!  Yup.  This challenge gave me a swift kick to the bum to think of an easy and fun way to help preschoolers learn about maps.

 I came up with this idea to travel the globe with the Planes and Cars characters!

Let's Learn Geography with Disney's Planes and Cars characters!


How to use Disney Planes and Cars movies to teach preschoolers about geography and maps
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So keep reading to see how I (and 4 other bloggers) taught our preschoolers all about maps!





One easy way to teach kids about geography and maps... with Disney Cars and Planes Movies!

This activity is so simple to do because all you need is a World map / globe and a child who  loves the Cars 2 and/or  Planes movies.

By the way... if your child loves cars and planes, then he/she will probably also love these crafts too!



Ok.. back to the map activity.  In both movies, the main character travels from country to country to race.  (Hmm.. .wait... I'm noticing a theme here, Disney!)  As you watch the movie (or as you review the movie with the child), you can add in an educational component by showing your child where the different countries are located on a map or globe.  If he/she has a toy, he/she can "fly" or "drive" the car from race to race too.

Chuck had a BLAST doing this activity.  He zipped around and later on asked to find the different countries again.  I think he just enjoyed reliving the highlights from the movies... and I was just excited that we were learning about geography too!

And in case you need it, here are lists of the locations that Dusty and  Lightening McQueen traveled in the movie:

Cars 2 locations:

  • United States (that's where they start the movie)
  • Tokyo, Japan
  • Paris, France
  • Italy
  • London, England
  • United States 
Planes locations:

  • Unknown location, United States (that's where they start)
  • New York City
  • Iceland
  • Germany
  • India
  • Nepal
  • Flysenhower (somewhere in the Pacific Ocean)
  • Mexico
  • New York City




Ok! As promised, here are...

4 More Fun Ways to Learn about Maps with Preschoolers! 



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Happy creating, friends!
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