Placemat Geography

We have a bunch of random placemats with pictures, numbers, alphabet and a United States map. They have been around since Hailey was little, and now Delaney uses them at the table. We use them for various activities while we eat all the time. The map, of course, is for geography. She knows where Arizona, California, New Mexico (Grandma lives there), Florida (Papa & Yaya), Michigan (Aunt Dawn), and Texas (where Daddy went for training once) are. We are working on the west coast now, and moving our way across the map.

Yesterday, we played "Little Bunny Family Moves around the U.S."

The girls were eating some Annie's Honey Bunnies (which I personally think are the cutest snacks ever), and Delaney was putting them all in Arizona, her favorite state. She asked me to be the Mommy Bunny, and I moved to Montana. One by one, the baby bunnies all moved to different states. Then, Mommy Bunny called them all on the phone to find out where they were living. (If I have to call my little Honey Bunnies to find out where they are living when they grow up, they will be in some serious trouble. But I digress.) Then, they all moved to Montana to be with me. During all of this family upheaval, Delaney learned Oregon, Washington, Utah, Montana, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada and Wyoming. One of the bunnies went to Texas, but we already knew that state.

After some time in Montana, and a visit from the Pretzel family, the bunnies decided to check out the east coast. They moved to Virginia, North Carolina, New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Georgia and Florida. The Mommy Bunny was sad to see them go, but happy that she could visit all of these fun states.

I asked Delaney if all of the bunnies were on the east coast or the west coast. She said, "Hmmm.", consulted the compass, and told me that they were on the east coast. My goodness. Delaney and I have discussed the map before, and the terms north, east, south and west, and where to find the compass on the map. That's rather abstract for a 3 year old, though, so I didn't really expect it to stick. This child of mine, though, she's like flypaper when it comes to learning. :)

I love doing geography with the girls, because honestly, it is far from my comfort zone. Somehow, all of the Plains states never quite made it into my long term memory. Hailey is learning latitude and longitude, and helping her has been a learning experience, too.

This was a super fun activity...it incorporated snacks, pretend play and map skills. I am the Honey Bunny family will be doing some more traveling in the near future.