Geography can be really fun! I know you are thinking of the dry boring texts of your high school days, of the longest class of the entire day, (if you were lucky enough to have a geography class in school that is) but it doesn't have to be! My favorite geography projects are edible! This is a peanut butter cookie dough recipe that is smooth and pliable, and doesn't dry out. It is really mold-able, holds it's shape well, and isn't too sticky to work with. And you can bake it when you are done, and eat it!
This is North America below:
You can see the drawn in country borders
We used licorice whips for the borders, mini chocolate chips for the Appalachians, and normal sized chips for the Rockies. Mount McKinley in Alaska got an Hershey's Kiss!
If you are wondering what that lone chocolate chip is doing out there in Oklahoma, well it is our one mountainous claim to fame: Mount Scott.
The object here is not perfection. It is mastery of the material! And of course- fun! These types of hands on projects make not only geography but the whole school day fun. Salt dough maps are also fun to work with. There are pro's and con's to both types of dough, but I think they are both worthwhile mediums. Allow your kids to head this project up all by themselves (supervised doesn't mean that you do it for them!); let them gather the materials, measure the ingredients, clean up the mess and then serve up the delicious results for dessert after dinner! I will bet that your husband will not be asking "what did you do for school today?" You will have worked on life skills, measuring, planning, cleaning up.......the list goes on!
The bonus? Your kiddos (no matter their ages) will really understand the shape of things, and you will be that fun mom that you always wished you were!
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