World Map Play and Learn Ideas with Links

World Happy Map® Play Ideas

Ages 6 and up

Welcome to the wonderful world of Happy Map®. You have a lot of exploring to do! The world is big and filled with adventure, so let’s dive right in and get ready to have some fun!

For links to lead you through many of the play ideas, go to: www.wholewideworldtoys.com/ 

GEOGRAPHY

• Where are you in the world? Start with a paper plate as your planet, then cut out smaller circles for your continent, country, state, city, street, home, and you!
• Earth has four hemispheres. Do you know what they are? What separates them?
• Print, then cut out and label Earth’s continents.
• Can you fit your continents together like puzzle pieces? 
• Learn more about Pangea and how our world is changing.
• How many countries are there in the world?
• Search for countries that start with B, C, M, and S. Which letter has the most countries? Hint: Country names on The World Happy Map® are in all capital letters.
• Can you catch the Crown Jewels Caper? Track your adventure on your map!
• What do the words “latitude” and “longitude” mean?
• Pick a line of latitude, say 15°S, and follow it across on your World Happy Map®. What do you see?
• What is the Aurora Borealis? Where can you see it?
• Mark the world’s biggest deserts on your map.
• Where in the world are rainforests? Look for the equator and you will find them!
• Do you know what a peninsula is? Learn about different landforms and then find them on your map.
• What is an archipelago? Can you find one on your map?
• What is a glacier? Mark one on your map.  
• There are 3 enclave countries in the world. Find out what they are and mark them on your World Happy Map®.
• What does the word “topography” mean?
• Can you find the highest, lowest, driest, wettest, hottest, and coldest places on earth?

MAPS

• What are the four cardinal directions? Which way does your front door face?
• What is a compass rose?
• What is a map legend?
• Draw a map of your town, with your home and favorite places. Add a title, compass (which way is north?), and legend.
• What is a map scale?
• Draw a map of your house, adding the rooms and furniture. Is the scale different from the map you drew of your town?
• Brush up on your map vocabulary!
• Can you find the north star in the sky at night?

THE WORLD

• What are the 7 Natural Wonders of the World and where are they?
• Toss five pebbles onto your map. Draw the flags for each pebble’s location. If you land in an ocean, toss again, or make the sea creatures a flag of their own!
• What are the United Nations? What do they do?
• Where is the United Nations headquarters? Mark it on the map.
• Do kings and queens still exist? Discover three countries still ruled by royals. Find them on your map and use your marker to draw castles on them!
• Go to the CIA World Factbook online and pick a country that starts with the same letter as your name.
• What are the country’s coordinates (longitude and latitude)? Use the coordinates to find the country on your map.
• How many people live there? Is the number different from where you live? Hint: Look under “People and Society.”
• What are the country’s top three industries? Hint: Look under “Economy.”
• Explore the country’s festivals and holidays. Which one is your favorite?

PEOPLE

• What is your heritage? It may be where you were born, the history of your family members, where you live now, or a combination.
• Where were your family members born? Mark these places on your World Happy Map®.
• What is a special tradition, holiday, or seasonal activity you celebrate at home? Where in the world did this tradition start?
• What do the words “immigration” and “emigration” mean? Can you remember which is which?
• Make a list of 3 important people – one each from 10, 100, and 1,000 years ago. Can you find where they lived on your map?
• Do you see foods, languages, or clothing of other cultures where you live? Which ones?
• Choose a Nobel Peace Prize winner and pretend they’re visiting your home. Mark their journey on your map. What good food and fun things could you do to share your culture?
• Do you know someone who moved nearby from another country? Take your World Happy Map® to visit them and ask them to show you where they’re from.
• Pick a favorite book or movie character. Can you find their home, workplace, school, secret lair, or castle on your map?
• Find three places named after important people and mark them on your map.

FOOD

• How did people find food 100 or 1,000 years ago? How were their methods different from today?
• Do you like chocolate? Cocoa beans grow near the equator. Find and circle the countries they come from on your World Happy Map®.
• What are your favorite fruits and vegetables? Where in the world were they first grown?
• What spices do you like and where do they grow?
• What does the word “cuisine” mean? How many cuisines have you tried? Set a goal to try six new cuisines. Mark them on the World Happy Map®.
• Do you have any special family foods that represent your heritage? Help make a meal!

HISTORY

• You can virtually tour the world’s most amazing museums from home. Explore the world while eating snacks in your pajamas!
• Pretend you are a traveling merchant! Set up a wagon of goods and map your route.
• Look for an important woman in history who reminds you of someone you know. Explore where they’re from on your map!
• Who is Genghis Khan and what lands did he conquer?
• Look at a map of the Roman Empire and compare it to modern Italy on your World Happy Map®.
• Learn about the role of slavery in The Triangular Trade. Draw the triangle.
• Think of an explorer, like Marco Polo, Charles Young, James Cabot, Matthew Henson, or Hernan Cortez. Draw their path on your map.
• Which native people lived where you live now?
• How did the whole world get into a war? Learn about World War II and mark the involved countries on your map.

ART, MUSIC & LANGUAGE

• Make a playlist of your favorite songs. Where were the artists and songwriters born?
• Randomly choose a country and discover the local architecture.
• Pick a country and learn about the famous painters from the region.
• Visit an art museum near you or virtually! Bring your World Happy Map® and mark where your favorite exhibits are from.
• Spin your marker on your map and when it stops moving, listen to music from the country your marker is pointing at!.
• Do you speak one of the most common languages in the world? What are they and where are they spoken?
• How many languages are spoken in your country? How about your home? Which languages do you want to learn?

LIFE

• Spin the marker on your World Happy Map® and choose a movie from the country your marker points to when it stops. Snuggle up and enjoy!
• Look at the streets, parks, and buildings near you. Are they named after people or places in other parts of the world?
• What are the most popular sports in the world? Have you played any of them?
• When and where are the next Olympic Games? Save the date and mark the location with a sticker on your map.

ANIMALS

• Imagine your favorite animal in nature. Where is their natural habitat? Where do elephants, koalas, llamas, giraffes, moose, and pandas call home?
• Which animals migrate in winter? Use your Migrating Animals stickers to mark migration routes – don’t forget to move them along each day!
• Go on a walk and write down the dog breeds you see. Find their origins at the American Kennel Club, then plot them on your map.
• Grab your favorite toy or stuffed animal and create their perfect habitat. Don’t forget to show them where they live on your map! 
• Draw some sea creatures in the ocean on your map.
• Where do penguins live? Find their homes on your Happy Map® and draw the penguins there.
• Find an animal you’ve never heard of before. Where does it live?

PLANT LIFE

• Find your favorite plant and discover if it is native to your area or traveled from somewhere else.
• How do seeds travel in nature and how far can they go? Draw a seed’s travel path on your map.
• Discover what a “USDA hardiness zone” is. What zone do you live in? Do other countries have hardiness zones too?
• Which types of plants live in the sea? Mark the Great Barrier Reef on your World Happy Map®.
• Use your super-spy skills to investigate the flowers sold at your local grocery store. Can you find flowers like them growing in the park? What country grows the most flowers?

WEATHER

• Toss five pebbles onto your World Happy Map® and explore where they landed. What is the climate like there and why? Are the pebbles close to the equator? Are they high on a mountain?
• What is your favorite season? Are there places in the world that never have a hot summer or snowy winter?
• If you could choose a different place to visit during each of the four seasons, where would you go and why?
• What is the difference between climate and weather?
• Look on a weather app or website to find a place with the opposite weather from you.

STORYTELLING

• Do you like fairy tales? Listen to one story from each of these countries and then check them off on your World Happy Map®.
• Create a fairy tale about a place that is far, far away. Where do your characters live? Where will they go on adventures?
• Which place on your world map is farthest from where you live? Design a comic strip or write a play about an animal, superhero, or kingdom from that area.
• Pretend you are moving to another country. Tell a story about why you are going and what you will do there.

MY STUFF

• Where would we be without electricity? What is your favorite invention?
• Grab five items from your room and check the tags to see where each item was made!
• Does your family own any traditional clothing? Are they items from your travels, your heritage, or both?
• Which traditional dress from around the world is most interesting to you? Can you copy the look?
• Throw five pebbles on your World Happy Map® and watch where they land. How might people in those regions dress for their climate?

TRAVEL

• Find and mark where you were born, where you’ve lived, and where you’ve traveled with the My World stickers.
• Put on your reporter hat and interview someone who travels for work. Ask them who they travel with, what they saw, and where, when, why, and how they travel.
• If you could go to school in another country, where would you go? Would you need to learn a new language?
• Can you think of any jobs that require traveling to new countries?
• Do you have any souvenirs from your family’s travels? Find where they came from on your map.
• Great job, explorer! For this final task, think back over everything you’ve learned and use your new knowledge to create a list of places you’d like to visit!

Wishing you a lifetime of global adventures. Enjoy growing and learning in this big, beautiful world!