8 Geography Activities that Will Help Your Students Understand Their World

Geography activities blog post cover showing a close-up of a colorful world map with the words “Geography Activities” across it

Geography can be a tricky concept for young students to understand. It will take some time and patience as you teach about each of the elements of geography and location. When teaching geography activities, I recommend using progressive instruction with lots of visual models! So, here are some geography resources your students will love!

Start With Broad Geography Topics

Colorful geography worksheets for elementary students showing “The Seven Continents” labeling and comprehension pages.

Start your geography unit by teaching the seven continents (and even the oceans of the world) with engaging worksheets and activities. Students can label maps, record facts, and compare regions as they learn. These geography activities make a great foundation for introducing map skills and world geography in elementary classrooms.

Set Up a Visual Model at the Start of Your Unit

Me on the Map Craft Activity for World Geography

Source Link: Playdough to Plato Freebie

Firstly, I’d recommend starting with a simple visual model. This resource will be helpful for students when they are learning more about each part of geography. I love this craftivity from Playdough to Plato because it allows students to see each component in reference to themselves, showing size and order in an easy model.

Printable “Where We Live” geography worksheet for students to label planet, continent, country, region, and state.

Link: World Geography Unit

Similarly, students can use a writing activity to describe location and geography. This Where We Live graphic organizer is from my World Geography Unit. Students will be able to record information about their city, state, region, country, continent, and planet! During these early stages, it is most important for students to understand the relative size and order of each.

Stock Up on Explorative Reference Materials

Collection of children’s geography reference books and atlases including Me on the Map and National Geographic Kids World Atlas.

Certainly, you will want to include books for your students to explore. This is another geography resource your students will love! I would start by using a book like Me on the Map as a read-aloud. Then, allow your students to dive into different atlases and geography books. The list of books below contains affiliate links to Amazon.

Add Videos Into Your Unit

Tablet displaying a BrainPOP Jr. geography video featuring a student pointing at a globe, ideal for introducing geography concepts.

Videos are always going to be a useful tool when you are working with elementary students. Engaging and informational, we might as well not reinvent the wheel! Typically, I suggest starting with an introductory video like the ones you can find on BrainPop and BrainPop, Jr. These videos will explain geography components in clear and simple terms, highlighting vocabulary and giving examples.

Tablet showing a National Geographic Kids “Destination World” video playlist for teaching continents and geography activities.

Then, when your students are ready to dig deeper, you can use the informational videos on National Geographic. This series of videos gives a more detailed look at each one of the continents, and are perfect starting points for group or partner projects! Coincidentally, they are also great additions to your hybrid or virtual instruction.

Teach About Diversity Amongst Continents and Countries

Children’s geography book This Is How We Do It by Matt Lamothe on a wooden table, perfect for teaching global cultures and geography activities.

Once your students have learned about the continents, it is time to take a closer look at each area. This is the perfect opportunity to incorporate explicit instruction on cultural differences across the world. Not only is this important for your students, but they will also love learning about the various traditions, foods, festivals, etc. This is How We Do It is a great read-aloud to kick off this study. You can add this book to your lesson as you begin to study the countries.

Link: This is How We Do It

Allow Independent Exploration of Geography Activities

Geography worksheets focusing on South America with passages and activities about climate, habitats, and languages.

Link: Geography Passages & Worksheets

Focus on one continent at a time with these geography activities and reading passages! Students explore facts, climates, and cultures for each continent while building comprehension skills. This structured approach makes geography lessons easier to plan and more meaningful for students.

Grab This Set of Ready-to-Go Worksheets & Passages

Finally, this last geography resource will be one that both you and your students love! This print-and-go unit can be easily added to your lesson plans and will have your students practicing multiple content skills.