DIY Homeschooler

Sometimes the best way to build a skill is simply to encourage a child’s attention to it.  One fun way to build a geographic interest is to spend time with an atlas!  With that in mind, your student may enjoy this free geography scavenger hunt.

A to Z Geo-Scavenger Hunt from National Geographic is a free activity that encourages children to become familiar with an atlas while learning new information as they locate deserts, lakes, islands, and rivers around the world.

Building a strong “geo-vocabulary” is an important part of learning geography. But simply memorizing terms and place locations can be tedious and even boring. One solution to this learning challenge is to turn the task into a game in which students take charge of their own learning.

Students use an atlas and the clues provided to identify 26 alphabetically ordered locations.  For example, the first clue is “Desert known as the driest place on earth” and the answer starts with the letter A.  These are not intuitive clues!

A geography scavenger hunt is an easy way to incorporate geography into your homeschool mix and a great tool for the homeschool handy mom!

Suggestions

• Complete one letter each day for roughly a month of geography lessons.
• Extend the activity by marking the place on a large world map.
• Create a geography notebook with a notebooking page for each location that includes the name, feature, claim to fame, and a picture, if possible.

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Additional Resources

Interactive Map Maker
Great way for a student to map the locations for a notebook — and free!

Geography From A to Z
Covering geography terms from A to Z through notebooking. Read our full review.