The second continent we are studying this year is Africa. One of my main goals during this study is for my children to understand that Africa is not a country.
It is a continent of MANY countries, each with different people groups, unique features, amazing landscapes, and an individual history.
I found a book at the library called, “Africa is not a country”. Each page is a short story about the typical activities of the children living in that country. As we read the stories, we colored in that country on a large, blank map of Africa and added a label.
You can print maps of many continents and countries in various sizes at this site. You can print a single sheet outline map, which I printed for each girl, or a map as large as 8x8 computer pages. I chose to print a 3x3 map of Africa, which uses 9 sheets that you fit together like a puzzle.
It was perfect!
I printed the names of the individual countries for us to cut and paste onto our map.
We have really enjoyed this activity, especially me. My own education did not give me such a sense of the uniqueness of African countries as I hope my kids have been instilled with. I just always though of Africa as a single place. It has been enjoyable and educational to learn about each individual country.
We only touched a little bit on the very difficult history of various African countries, but I wanted the kids to have a general sense of colonialism and the current state of the independent nations.
The three individual countries we will spend some time studying are Nigeria, South America, and Egypt.
1 comment:
what a great activity and wonderful way to make geography come alive for you and the girls! I need to check out that book, too when we start studying Africa. Thanks for the link!
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