Geography at key stages 1 and 2    (Year 1-6)

• Ask the children where they live and mark on a large map of the local area. Mark other places in their local communities. Discuss where these other places are, eg who has seen/visited them, how close/far away they are.

• Ask the children where their relatives live and mark and name the places on a map of the British Isles (and further afield if appropriate).
• Ask the children to bring in postcards of where they went on holiday or pictures of where they would like to go. Identify the places on a wall map and display the pictures round it.
• Ask the children to bring in envelopes with clear postmarks showing where they came from. These may be displayed in the same way as the holiday postcards.
• Ask the children to collect a range of food packages and identify the places or countries of origin. Display the packages and 'locate' them on a world map. This could be linked to a visit to a local supermarket.
• Use Unit 5 'Where in the world is Barnaby Bear?' A class bear 'visits' other places with volunteers, and children receive postcards and pictures of him in a variety of locations. These are then mapped and recorded.

• Display photographs taken in the local area. Ask the children to identify where they were taken. Photographs taken at odd angles will provide a challenging activity for some pupils. For younger children pictures of the school grounds and buildings can be used in the same way.
• Ask the children to collect stamps, coins and paper money and to mark their countries of origin on a map.
• Use floor jigsaw puzzles of Britain, Europe and the world at appropriate points in the curriculum.

• Using photographs and/or headlines taken from a local newspaper, ask the children to identify local events, eg fêtes, sports events, and map them on a large-scale map of the area.
• Give children opportunities to read stories set in different places. Ask the children to identify the places that occur in the stories they read and locate them on a large wall map. Some stories with a multicultural background should be included.
• When using non-fiction texts (such as a book on weather or homes and houses) help the children to locate the places mentioned as examples on a map or globe. Ask the children to record their locations on a map. Over a term or year, this will give them a personal record of all of the places 'visited' in the course of their work.
• Talk with the children about how each place is described in words and pictures.
• A more challenging exercise might be to ask children to describe what these places might be like - What would it be like to live there? Where in the world is it?

• On each day for a week, give the children two facts about a city or location. As soon as they recognise the place ask them to post their answer in a box. Reveal the identity of the place at the end of the week. The level of demand, for example in the nature of the facts given or in how well known the cities or locations are, can be varied to allow this activity to be used in different years of the key stage.

• Ask the children to interview a number of people to find out their favourite holiday location and the reasons for their choice.
• Ask the children to use an atlas to find out where the places are and, with their help, produce a display map showing the holiday locations. Ask the children to enter their survey findings on a database.
• Ask the children to graph the results and analyse the findings, eg Which factor has the most impact on a choice of holiday? Where are the favourite destinations?
• Ask pairs of children to 'adopt' a city, possibly including those shown on the National Curriculum exemplar maps, and research it. A possible starting point would be to plot the weather over a week using the daily weather data provided by a national newspaper or on the internet. Ask the children to produce short reports and display them on a wall map of the world.

• Ask the children to watch a recording of the previous day's television news. Ask them to list and then mark on a map all the places mentioned on the news. The base map for this activity may include places and environments shown on the National Curriculum exemplar maps.
• Discuss the reasons why places become newsworthy.
• Ask the children to repeat the exercise for homework for a week, and to record the number of times in a week places are mentioned and the reasons for the differences.

• Use a class storybook such as Journey to Jo'burg, or The Swap and Other Stories to discuss with the children the similarities and differences between communities and the lives of people who live in them.