In the little tour of our son's bedroom you might have noticed a map we have hanging on one wall. We use it to keep track of where our immediate family has been and where other members of our family are traveling. If you want something similar, here's a little tutorial on how to make one.
I used a free world map we got from National Geographic (I think it came with our subscription to Your Big Backyard). But you can find similar maps online here or elsewhere for around $5.
I bought a large bulletin board and lightly glued the map to the board around the edges. (I did not choose to paint the frame of the board, but you may want to do this if you are looking for a particular color or don't like the original finish.) Then I glued navy grosgrain ribbon over the edges of the map to make a "mat" of sorts. I used a couple layers of overlapping ribbon because I couldn't find one that was the exact width I needed.
Add a few map pins to keep track of whatever is interesting to your family (where certain animals live, where you'd like to visit someday, etc.). We have a couple different colors of pins to track places where we have lived or visited, and then places where members of our family have visited. Recently my dad was traveling to Hungary, and now James knows where that is on the map (although sometimes he gets mixed up and calls it "Eating.")
Map pins (also called map tacks) are available online here, or locally at The Art Store (they have both map flags and map pins).
The finished product: an easy way to help your kids begin to learn some geography.
1 comment:
Lovely blog, hope to see you at My Dream Canvas!
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