Map Skills Worksheets and Activities
Elementary teachers, learn all about map skills worksheets and activities in this blog post!
Maps – they’re all around us!
Maps are everywhere in our everyday lives.
The subway system. The park. The mall. Our GPS. Amusement parks. A museum.
We teach map skills because maps are an absolute necessity to learn to get anywhere (even with a GPS – that uses a map too!).
Map skills are also a super fun unit that students generally enjoy learning about.
It’s always easier to teach a unit that your students are already excited about π
Keep reading to find out about different map skills worksheets and activities that you’ll love adding to your social studies unit!
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Map Skills Worksheets
Hello, map skills color by number worksheets!
You guys. These are seriously SO FUN.
Worksheets do NOT have to be boring.Β
Your students will ask for more of these… I’m totally serious.
Want to know how it works?
Kids first answer map skills questions.
Each answer choice dictates a color next to it (like green, red, blue, etc.).
Students willΒ color the coded pictureΒ based on theΒ answer that they choose.
No-prep for you. Simple to grade (just look at the picture). Highly engaging.Β
It’s seriously a big winner.
This set comes with 6 map skills worksheets plus an answer key (topics include continents, oceans, hemispheres, reading a map, and map skills.,
Click HERE to check them out!
Map Skills Activities
Real-life map labeling
In the beginning of your map skills units, send home a letter asking students to look for maps in their every day world.
If they see free ones, grab one and bring it into the classroom!
When you have a good number of maps, pass them out to students (you can also do this in partners if you don’t quite have enough, but generally students get excited about maps and collect a bunch!)
Each student(s) gets a sharpie and a post-it note.
First, students will label parts of the real-life map that they see (it’s good practice!).
Then, students can write questions about the map on a piece of paper (like how does someone get from the Ancient Egypt exhibit to the dinosaur exhibit?)
After students are finished, they flip-flop with another student to solve each other’s questions!
Create a map!
Here’s a fun and hands–on map skills activity!
Students will create a map of the thing they know best – their home!
Definitely model this before having them get to work so that they understand how a birds-eye view of a house would look π
Students will drawΒ the inside of their home (if their home is two stories, have them pick one of the levels).
Remind students that they will need to include ALL the basics of a map, like title, compass rose, and a map key.
Always incorporate in that content vocabulary whenever you can to make it “stick”!
After drawing, students will create their own worksheets.
Students can write mapping questions like “what direction would you walk from the office to the living room?” or “the kitchen is located what direction from the garage?”
After creating their worksheets, students can flip–flop their worksheets and maps.
Then they can solve another student’s worksheet using the map and the questions!
Map Skills for Google Classroom
Map Skills for Google Classroom is one of the best–sellers in my store, and it’s easy to see why!
Even though this resource is digital and used on Google Classroom, it’s full of interactive activities (like drag-&-drop questions, short answers, and web searches!)
It covers all the map skills topics that you need to teach kiddos, including:
- map skills
- how to read maps
- continents
- oceans
- the equator
- the prime meridian
- hemispheres
Click HERE to check it out!
Need help planning out your social studies units?
I have a fantastic blog post with tangible steps, advice, and resources to save you as much time and brainpower as possible as you begin social studies curriculum mapping.
Click the links below to read the posts:
I have a FREE worksheet for you!
You will LOVE this reading comprehension color by number worksheet
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