Mar 31 2008
Geography Games continue…
Model Town and Mapping
AGE 5 TO 6 YEARS
How it helps your child
These activities help your child develop an awareness of spatial relationships and perceptual skills, as well as prepare him for using maps either of your own neighbourhood or of differentcountries. The activities are also excellent for language development and learning and teaching a second language.
What you need
2 model towns or farms fitted together by a divider.
2 charts for each scene
A box of appropriate models. These could include, say, I o cows, 5 trucks, 5 cars, 3 children,
3 sheep, 5 horses, 3 ducks, 3 chickens, 3 men standing, 3 trees, 2 stands, a bench, a man sitting, a gate post, a bridge, a rooster and a dog. Activity cards so that a child can play alone or with a friend.
How to play
- First help your child to become familiar with the models and talk about the scenes.
- Then set up two identical scenes, either of the town or of the farm.
- You begin by placing the models on the scene and describing where you are putting each object.
Your child tries to copy your actions from your verbal instructions.
- After a while you can check to see if the two scenes are the same and the models are in the same place.
- This activity can be reversed with your child giving the instructions.
- If he wants to play by himself he can use an activity card and follow a given pattern.
- After playing this game for a while you could extend the activities by introducing two- dimensional pictures of the objects so that what has been created looks more like a map.
- Ultimately, your child should be able to draw a map of his own house, garden, street or locality.
The commercial version of this game, called Dubbledam, comes with a variety of other activity suggestions that will extend your child’s knowledge.
Road Safety Game
AGE 5 TO 6 YEARS
How it helps your child
The game will help you reinforce the idea of caution on the roads and where and when it is safe to cross the road.
What you need
A large sheet of paper drawn up with a snake which is divided into sections. At regular intervals draw different pictures of safe places to cross the road, such as pedestrian crossings, traffic lights, bridges and underpasses. At irregular intervals, draw manhole covers on the snake. Another hazard is an occasional banana skin on which a player can slip or a red light to holdhim up
A dice
2 or more miniature men to show where the players are on the ladder
How to play
- Each player chooses a man and throws the dice in turn.
- The idea is to move up the snake and get to the head first. On the way if you can cross the road at a safe crossing you can skip a few places.
- If you are unlucky you fall down a manhole and have to move back or start all over again. You may also slip back a place by landing on a banana skin.
Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)
Geography Games continue…
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- Educational Play, see Children Playing Characteristics Span Development
- Kids Unconscious Motives: Toys and Playing Games
- Child’s Play, Toys as Symbols
- Sex education: meet the faculty
- Give Homeless Children a Hope, Projects of Caring for Street Children in the Towns part 4
- What Play and Game get Kids Fantasy involvement?
- Are you a busy parent? Do you Neglect your children?
