Here's one way to teach your child how maps work with the real world without using a drop of gasoline, which is getting more precious at every trip to the pump.

Log on to Google Maps and type your address, city and state into the search bar. It should pull up a small map of your neighborhood, to zoom in closer, you can click the plus symbol on the slider. Get close and then click the Hybrid button up in the right hand corner. Now you're looking at satellite imagery of your house and your neighbors. Likely taken about 2 or 3 years ago, you may notice some changes like trees or grass that's no longer there. Ask your child where they want to go that they visit often, like the library or the cleaners and then type in that address. They will get a chance to look down on the library roof or the stripmall that holds the cleaners. Next have them figure out which way they turn to go home when they go out to the main road...etc. This will give them a chance to see how navigation and maps work together. You may use it to help them tell the difference between urban and farming areas, tropical regions in Florida vs desert regions in Utah, and why landmarks are so important.

Here are some landmarks and points of interest that you might want to show them.

The White House

The Lincoln Memorial

New York City

The Golden Gate Bridge

Pikes Peak Highway

Disneyland

There is some work involved, like zooming in and scrolling. If you have a high speed connection, you might try downloading the free version of Google Earth. It does the entire globe and lets you zoom in even closer. It even reads the topography so you can actually zoom in and see whether the country is mountainous or flat. But the high speed connection is a must.

Take a look and use this tool to stimulate the learner in you and your kids. They may have so much fun, they won't even realize they're learning!

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