My kid loves maps!
February 18, 2023 5:22 AM Subscribe
Looking for recommendations for a six-year-old who loves maps and atlases.
He has two kids atlas books, a few map puzzles and a globe already. I was hoping for more of a deep dive about how maps work. Something like the fabulous DK Math book series with all the flaps and pop-ups and everything, but about maps. Or a coding bot? A board game? Any good suggestions?
He has two kids atlas books, a few map puzzles and a globe already. I was hoping for more of a deep dive about how maps work. Something like the fabulous DK Math book series with all the flaps and pop-ups and everything, but about maps. Or a coding bot? A board game? Any good suggestions?
Does he have this book?
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 5:35 AM on February 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 5:35 AM on February 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
My kids are, I’m, genetically predisposed to like maps. One of them has already started coming through. Some things we’ve done to encourage that: Map placemats at the dinner table. We saw them every night, and so she was telling everyone about Wyoming when she was three. Books, most notably Scrambled States of America by Laurie Keller. Google Maps. Find places they know and then have them figure out how to get to other places. (This is actually practical.) Games. We have a board for the license plate game associating plates with their states so that when you see a New Jersey plate, you find NJ on the map. And it’s not really a game, but we have a road trip planner where you hang a clothesline across the back seat and then hang cards for each town we’re driving through, and there’s a clothespin car to track progress. You can then compare against a paper map.
We also have a Touch and Learn map, which is how we got our daughter to stop asking for a tablet with buying a tablet.
But yeah, drawing maps. I had a birthday party when I was ten where the activity was drawing maps. Can’t say it’ll do much for your kid’s social life, but now I have a cool party truck where I can draw a to-scale map of the United States on like a bar napkin, which seems to entertain people.
posted by kevinbelt at 6:16 AM on February 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
We also have a Touch and Learn map, which is how we got our daughter to stop asking for a tablet with buying a tablet.
But yeah, drawing maps. I had a birthday party when I was ten where the activity was drawing maps. Can’t say it’ll do much for your kid’s social life, but now I have a cool party truck where I can draw a to-scale map of the United States on like a bar napkin, which seems to entertain people.
posted by kevinbelt at 6:16 AM on February 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
The reason I know where to find all 48 contiguous states of the USA is because 6 y.o. me had a jigsaw puzzle with each piece a state. It was a bit less cartoonish and more grown up than today's equivalent. The Brits can supply you a map jigsaw centred on your postcode whc I believe is the coolest thing in cartography: local-to-you equivalent may exist.
posted by BobTheScientist at 6:26 AM on February 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by BobTheScientist at 6:26 AM on February 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
Inkarnate is a tool for making fantasy maps (for table top RPGs and the like)
posted by pyro979 at 6:48 AM on February 18, 2023
posted by pyro979 at 6:48 AM on February 18, 2023
Previously, nine years ago I asked: "Geography Books for a 9 Year Old"
posted by ShooBoo at 7:03 AM on February 18, 2023
posted by ShooBoo at 7:03 AM on February 18, 2023
Make it 3D? My child is/was similar and we had something like this: realistic inflatable globe. Since then we've found a couple vintage globes in thrift shops & onlne... the fact that they're outdated has made them even more awesome for conversation. Got one in my living room right now actually.
We kept an eye out for old-skool yellow National Geographics with fold-out maps that were fun.
This book MAPS was also a favorite but may skew a little young; this Brilliant Maps for Curious Minds was also a hit.
posted by nkknkk at 7:11 AM on February 18, 2023
We kept an eye out for old-skool yellow National Geographics with fold-out maps that were fun.
This book MAPS was also a favorite but may skew a little young; this Brilliant Maps for Curious Minds was also a hit.
posted by nkknkk at 7:11 AM on February 18, 2023
If you have the wall space, this guy makes great maps: https://www.imusgeographics.com/
posted by LoveHam at 7:12 AM on February 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by LoveHam at 7:12 AM on February 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
We're in a similar space with our kid. He's a huge fan of playing Ticket to Ride, the junior edition. It's all maps, all the time.
Other map-related books that we have and love:
Transit Maps of the World
History of the World, Map by Map
What Happened When in the World (a kid analogue of the book above, which is pretty adult-reading level but enjoyed by our kid with parental assistance, and then we saw this at a bookstore, and my kid even parted with some of his precious saved money to buy because he loved it so much on sight)
Camilla the Cartographer
I've considered buying this as a book for me to read, so that we can do some map projects together, but haven't pulled the trigger yet.
Also, if you have access/time/space, my kid has really enjoys looking at outdated atlases and seeing what is different/same.
posted by joyceanmachine at 7:19 AM on February 18, 2023
Other map-related books that we have and love:
Transit Maps of the World
History of the World, Map by Map
What Happened When in the World (a kid analogue of the book above, which is pretty adult-reading level but enjoyed by our kid with parental assistance, and then we saw this at a bookstore, and my kid even parted with some of his precious saved money to buy because he loved it so much on sight)
Camilla the Cartographer
I've considered buying this as a book for me to read, so that we can do some map projects together, but haven't pulled the trigger yet.
Also, if you have access/time/space, my kid has really enjoys looking at outdated atlases and seeing what is different/same.
posted by joyceanmachine at 7:19 AM on February 18, 2023
For multimedia endeavors, I also suggest the app "Stack the States!" And endless hours of exploring Google Earth.
Everyone in my household can sing Alphabet of Nations and Tour of the States by heart, since I added them to a playlist many years ago.
For board games, many them rely on cool maps, and your child is the right age for Ticket to Ride (and variants). A little more under the radar, our family liked Scotland Yard which is deeply engaged with the map of London, as opposed to just putting pieces down on a map-like surface (and apparently there's an updated version called 'Mr X' that I can't vouch for). The child loved being the detective while the parents were the fugitives.
posted by nkknkk at 7:31 AM on February 18, 2023 [2 favorites]
Everyone in my household can sing Alphabet of Nations and Tour of the States by heart, since I added them to a playlist many years ago.
For board games, many them rely on cool maps, and your child is the right age for Ticket to Ride (and variants). A little more under the radar, our family liked Scotland Yard which is deeply engaged with the map of London, as opposed to just putting pieces down on a map-like surface (and apparently there's an updated version called 'Mr X' that I can't vouch for). The child loved being the detective while the parents were the fugitives.
posted by nkknkk at 7:31 AM on February 18, 2023 [2 favorites]
Tissue paper and graph paper for making maps. There are lots of map outline images online and they are fun to color creatively. Ask your friends and family if they have old maps and atlases, and maybe post on Buy Nothing, Freecycle, Craigslist/free; it's fun to see the places and fun to see the many ways maps have been decorated. Come to Maine, visit the Osher Map Library and Eartha. Greater Portland, Maine is a wonderful place to visit, anyway.
posted by theora55 at 8:59 AM on February 18, 2023
posted by theora55 at 8:59 AM on February 18, 2023
Go to your local library’s used book store and see if they have a pile of those folded map inserts from National Geographic for sale.
posted by mdonley at 9:00 AM on February 18, 2023
posted by mdonley at 9:00 AM on February 18, 2023
My awesome oldest brother gave me a laminated map of our home state that is six damn feet tall. It shows features in amazing detail, and I used to love tracing well-known travel routes to see what lay just over the highway's edge.
posted by wenestvedt at 9:23 AM on February 18, 2023
posted by wenestvedt at 9:23 AM on February 18, 2023
Online options: You might want to play a round or two to of geoguesser, and YouTube has geofact videos that might be fun.
posted by childofTethys at 11:08 AM on February 18, 2023
posted by childofTethys at 11:08 AM on February 18, 2023
When I was a child I was allowed to choose the wallpaper for my room; I chose maps, and we covered 2 walls with them, mostly from National Geographic. I loved it and your child might too!
posted by librosegretti at 12:56 PM on February 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by librosegretti at 12:56 PM on February 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
I have a degree in geography. Here are a few books I enjoyed.
* Atlas of Design
* Maphead: Charting the Wide, Weird World of Geography Wonks
* Strange Maps: An Atlas of Cartographic Curiosities (This one is best for the kid alone, and there is a corresponding web page: https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/.)
There is also Mapmaking with Children: Sense of Place Education for the Elementary Years, although I haven’t read it.
This site might also be good: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/collections/7dfb9efa5d3e490c95d5ebd8b314289a.
posted by NotLost at 8:15 PM on February 18, 2023
* Atlas of Design
* Maphead: Charting the Wide, Weird World of Geography Wonks
* Strange Maps: An Atlas of Cartographic Curiosities (This one is best for the kid alone, and there is a corresponding web page: https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/.)
There is also Mapmaking with Children: Sense of Place Education for the Elementary Years, although I haven’t read it.
This site might also be good: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/collections/7dfb9efa5d3e490c95d5ebd8b314289a.
posted by NotLost at 8:15 PM on February 18, 2023
I'd check with the folks at Metsker Maps. Their gifts section has kids stuff, geography books, atlases, etc, or just reach out to them.
posted by SirNovember at 10:04 AM on February 19, 2023
posted by SirNovember at 10:04 AM on February 19, 2023
Go outside and do fun things that use maps and compasses in real time!
Teach Lil'ficbot orienteering. I do mounted orienteering with a horse, but you don't actually need the horse. The object is to use a 7.5-minute topographic map to locate the general position and then find objects by using triangulation with a compass. My sport uses 5 numbered plates with a two-letter code on them to indicate that you have actually found the plate. The first plate is hidden in a known location. This is used as your start point on the map, and the other plates are found by using the topo map to travel to find the other four positions. When you arrive at your position as shown on the map, you then use two or more clues to orientate your compass to point to the exact placement of the plate. Examples of clues use wording such as '24 degrees from the lone sage brush' (or the elm tree) and '80 degrees from the NW gate post' (or leg of the swing set) This gives you 2 headings that triangulate to your plate. >
Things get tricky when you use FROM vs TO and learn to backshoot. You can use multiple bearing points that can lead you from A to B, before they point to what you are looking for.
To teach my grandbrats the compass headings, I had them do a simple map of the local park. I then put numbers one to five on their map and gave them clues for the bearing points. They then had to reference and go to the location, shoot a bearing point, then draw a visual line to their point of reference, then go to the next bearing point and do the same thing. Then they walk one reference line till both lines intersect. It's easier with two people, but kids learn how to find a point by themselves, they're dangerous to compete against! I started easy, by laying quarters (incentive!) directly on the bare ground, and then began to make them harder to find, in the grass, or behind/between things. Teaches patience and perseverance, back shooting and an eagle eye.
Cardinal directions and map distances were easy for them, but actually reading topography didn't become clear until I had them use a topo map to build a mountain to scale, with all the ravines, peaks, a creek and a saddle. That can be done while the weather is crappy. The kids covered their cardboard mountain with paper mâché and painted it after calculating the elevations. Then we took our maps and actually hiked the Teapot Dome. All Trails is a good resource, for this.
Geocaching is also great. Many of the really easy caches can be found with phone apps, if you don't have a gps, inexpensive machines can sometimes be found on eBay.
I love maps and compasses. My brother-in-law did digital cartography for the Forest Service, and I was jealous.
posted by BlueHorse at 3:54 PM on February 19, 2023
Teach Lil'ficbot orienteering. I do mounted orienteering with a horse, but you don't actually need the horse. The object is to use a 7.5-minute topographic map to locate the general position and then find objects by using triangulation with a compass. My sport uses 5 numbered plates with a two-letter code on them to indicate that you have actually found the plate. The first plate is hidden in a known location. This is used as your start point on the map, and the other plates are found by using the topo map to travel to find the other four positions. When you arrive at your position as shown on the map, you then use two or more clues to orientate your compass to point to the exact placement of the plate. Examples of clues use wording such as '24 degrees from the lone sage brush' (or the elm tree) and '80 degrees from the NW gate post' (or leg of the swing set) This gives you 2 headings that triangulate to your plate. >
Things get tricky when you use FROM vs TO and learn to backshoot. You can use multiple bearing points that can lead you from A to B, before they point to what you are looking for.
To teach my grandbrats the compass headings, I had them do a simple map of the local park. I then put numbers one to five on their map and gave them clues for the bearing points. They then had to reference and go to the location, shoot a bearing point, then draw a visual line to their point of reference, then go to the next bearing point and do the same thing. Then they walk one reference line till both lines intersect. It's easier with two people, but kids learn how to find a point by themselves, they're dangerous to compete against! I started easy, by laying quarters (incentive!) directly on the bare ground, and then began to make them harder to find, in the grass, or behind/between things. Teaches patience and perseverance, back shooting and an eagle eye.
Cardinal directions and map distances were easy for them, but actually reading topography didn't become clear until I had them use a topo map to build a mountain to scale, with all the ravines, peaks, a creek and a saddle. That can be done while the weather is crappy. The kids covered their cardboard mountain with paper mâché and painted it after calculating the elevations. Then we took our maps and actually hiked the Teapot Dome. All Trails is a good resource, for this.
Geocaching is also great. Many of the really easy caches can be found with phone apps, if you don't have a gps, inexpensive machines can sometimes be found on eBay.
I love maps and compasses. My brother-in-law did digital cartography for the Forest Service, and I was jealous.
posted by BlueHorse at 3:54 PM on February 19, 2023
Do you have a physical street directory of your local area?
I used to follow along on car trips in ours, and was chief navigator from about the age of 8. Long car trips I had the Australia wide street map and would spend the trip calculating our ETA's to the next town(s). Must have been _scintillating_ for the rest of my family.
(I'm still slightly peeved that Google has stolen my role, though at least it's mostly accurate now.)
posted by kjs4 at 9:00 PM on February 19, 2023
I used to follow along on car trips in ours, and was chief navigator from about the age of 8. Long car trips I had the Australia wide street map and would spend the trip calculating our ETA's to the next town(s). Must have been _scintillating_ for the rest of my family.
(I'm still slightly peeved that Google has stolen my role, though at least it's mostly accurate now.)
posted by kjs4 at 9:00 PM on February 19, 2023
Mapping Sam (here it is on Indiebound) is a good overview of how different kinds of maps work using a cat as a guide.
posted by ignignokt at 9:19 AM on February 20, 2023
posted by ignignokt at 9:19 AM on February 20, 2023
This thread is closed to new comments.
Maybe you can get one of the books or toys someone will surely suggest below, hide it and draw a map to it, and have your kid follow the map to go find it to see if it kicks off the interest.
posted by phunniemee at 5:33 AM on February 18, 2023 [1 favorite]