Make a felt map of the world to teach children about the world’s geography and cultures.
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DIY Felt Map of the World for Children
What You'll Find on This Page
Having been raised in five countries spread across three continents, it’s important to me that my children know as much about their world as possible. I thought this felt board map of the world activity could be a fun introduction to continents.
How to Make a Felt Map of the World
Inspired by a high school history teacher who forced all of his students to learn to draw simplified maps of the world and Europe, I created a template based off of this map from http://www.mapsofworld.com/.
I cut the simplified continents out of felt and made a new blue-background travel felt board. I also laminated (very poorly, I’m afraid) a print-out of the same map.
I will keep the laminated map and the felt pieces in a folder, within a larger folder that holds all of Emma’s felt board activities.
I’m not sure how well Emma understands the concepts of continents (or even the world) at this point, but she enjoys playing with the felt pieces, looking at the map, and talking about where various friends and family members live. Here’s the world map template I created, if you would like to try this activity yourself.
Emma asked to trace the map of the world. She did a great job, in spite of using thick printer paper. Next time I’ll give her tracing paper.
She even added some animals to the world (after I took the above picture) – here’s her version of a baby fox:
and a sheep:
Here is another fun way to teach your children about the world – all from the comfort of your own home!
I would love to see photos if you use this tutorial to create your own felt maps of the world!
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MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.
Oh this is a great idea, thank you so much for linking it to my continents post. I have some excess green felt lying around, might give it a go :-)
That’s a good baby fox!!
I’m very impressed with Emma’s tracing of the world map!
I enjoy all of your craft ideas–thanks! =) We bought tracing paper at Wal-mart…it was buy the construction paper.
I love this idea. I also love to expose my kids to world geography and I think it interests them, too, since they have grandparents in Asia.
Do you have any special tricks for storing Emma’s felt activities?
Also, thank you so much for your comment on my blog about fitting 3 car seats in your car. I’ve just started watching a friend’s son 2 days a week, so I’m going to need to figure out 3 car seats in our car a lot sooner than I thought!
such a nice activity
great idea and great for tactile learners. We are doing geography and i have never thought of using the felt board, makes perfect sense now.
Thanks for a great idea.
@J – Yeah, I had to leave off quite a few island countries, with Iceland being the largest. I also debated over whether or not to cut out the bay that separates Greenland from Canada… It’s definitely an imperfect map, but it gives the basic shapes of the continents.
Love it! You forgot Iceland though. LOL
Wow! That is really cool. And a great learning tool for your daughter. I might have to try something like that. I’d love to teach my kids a little bit about geography. I got a puzzle of the US for them but they lost all the pieces. Maybe I could make one out of felt.
I’ve seen tracing paper at the craft store all the time. I bet Emma would really like it, and it’s a great way to learn how to draw. I’m loving this travel felt board concept… very cool!
I love the sheep. :-) Emma’s drawings have a special charm.