3 Wonderful Geography Documentaries to watch this summer
“Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life.”
More than ever before, we can create a rich, full life for our children, filled with ideas and experiences. Alongside books, nature, art, and music, we can enrich children’s lives through a feast of documentaries rich in storytelling, vivid imagery and captivating ideas.
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So what makes a great documentary?
Really great documentaries open up big ideas, invite engaged discussion, enrich lessons and are a perfect compliment to living books. Through the vivid immediacy of film, documentaries have the power to transport children anywhere across the world.
Ask yourself these 3 questions when choosing a documentary to watch:
Does it move at a pace where the information can be easily understood and assimilated, or is it too faced paced, covering a lot but nothing much in depth?
Does the presenter/ narrator use engrossing and descriptive language and engage the viewer, or is it dull and lifeless?
Does the imagery tell a story about the topic and capture the themes well?
“The best documentaries examine a topic in depth, are well researched, convey information in a way that is thoughtful and engrossing, and deal with important themes. ”
How to begin a family tradition around documentaries
This summer is an ideal time to begin a family tradition of watching wonderful documentaries together. Make it fun by making some delicious treats or a bowl of popcorn, and gathering together as a family watch. Continue the habit throughout the school year, and you will have added in wonderful, enriching learning for your children that has become part of the atmosphere and life of the home.
Here’s your shortlist of 3 excellent documentaries to start watching with your children this summer:
The Most Dangerous Ways to School
Grades K-12
This fascinating series follows children from some of the most remote and impoverished parts of the world on their way to school. Often without shoes, and sometimes for days on end, children climb mountainous paths, swim across rivers, journey in homemade canoes, battle their way through dense jungles, cross giant ravines over ramshackle bridges, walk barefoot through deserts and bundle up to walk through snow and ice. Their path to school takes them through amazing natural landscapes, producing spectacular scenery for a very ordinary task.
Grand Tours of the Scottish Islands
Grades K-12
This series, hosted by Paul Murton, explores some of the most beautiful and remote islands of Scotland, looking at the landscape, geography, history and culture. 24 episodes to enjoy and immerse yourself in the most stunning landscapes in Scotland.
Grades K-12
The BBC Planet Earth series explores the diverse habitats of the planet and the animals that live in them; from grasslands, deserts, forests, freshwater habitats, and wild coats to remote jungles. Discover the planet’s last great wild places and the astonishing strategies animals have evolved to survive.
Discover more great geography documentaries
For more inspiration and a full guide to the very best geography documentaries to supplement your learning, we have created a geography documentary guide for families and schools so you can quickly and easily source documentaries to go alongside your living books and curriculum, and add enrichment into your family life.
Easily find the best documentaries for your family and learning: 64 pages of expertly curated documentaries covering geography, earth science and world cultures, suitable for grades K-12 and beyond. Arranged by streaming service, theme and world region so you can quickly and easily find exactly what you need, every time, with no lengthy online searches required.
