Creative Approaches for Geography Lessons

How creativity can help learning

Creativity now is as important in education as literacy, and we should treat it with the same status.
— Sir Ken Robinson, TED Talk

In his famous TED talk on education, “Do Schools Kill Creativity?” Sir Ken Robinson made the case that creativity is fundamental to learning, and just as important as literacy. Observe any young child exploring the world around them and you will see that we are all born creative and curious, and if we can maintain that in our approach to education, including geography lessons, we will be affording our children a rich and meaningful education where they will take delight in the subjects being taught.

When geography is approached through the lens of a “living education,” your students will experience an education which is alive with vital ideas; with well-written and engrossing books, thought-provoking podcasts and documentaries, discussions, illustrated notebooking, and beautiful landscape art, storybooks and maps.

So how can we also create opportunities for creative expression and growth in skills of communication, drawing and expressive writing? Here are 5 creative approaches you can begin using today in your geography lessons.

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Creating Illustrated Notebooking Pages

a wooden table strewn with art supplies and a watercolor illustration of a town being copied from a book

Narrations can be written down in a notebook in the form of lively and interesting informative essays, with lovely watercolor illustrations or pencil drawings added to further highlight the concept being learned.

For instance, you may be learning about river valleys – find an illustration from a beautifully illustrated geography book for your child to copy and add their own annotations. Children can also create cross-sections and diagrams, using traditional art techniques such as sketching, watercolor wash and micron pen, or by using a digital art app such as Procreate.

This use of the artistic side of the brain alongside the analytic side of the brain does much to grow students’ skills and assimilate knowledge in a way that is lasting. You can find more information on the power of written and oral narration in our guide Charlotte Mason – the Methods which includes chapters on narration, notebooking, and a list of creative narration ideas.

The panorama of geography can be studied in many diverse ways. Geography comes alive when the approach is varied and lively, beyond the pages of a textbook and rote learning.
— Amy O'Meara, Geography for a Living Education

Producing Geography-Themed Podcasts

Have children enjoy creating their own pretend documentary or interview-style podcast episodes.  Begin by having students listen to some excellently produced podcasts such as “Overheard” by National Geographic. This will give them plenty of ideas and inspiration for creating their own podcasts based on the subject matter they are currently learning.  

Next, give students a recording device such as a tablet or mp3 player, and challenge them to record their own podcast. They will have to write a script, decide if they will have interview “guests” (other students putting on the role of an expert in the field). This can be a fun exercise where students play dramatic roles emulating experts in the field, scientists or geographic explorers.

Producing a simulation of a podcast episode  is a form of oral narration, or “telling back” in order for the student to truly assimilate knowledge, but with a twist – utilizing the creative idea of producing and starring in their very own podcast.

Podcast theme ideas: “All about river and erosion,” “A Day out at Yosemite national Park,” “Exploring Africa.”

A wide and varied approach to geography will deepen understanding, inspire engagement and act as a catalyst for critical thinking and original ideas.
— Amy O'Meara, Geography for a Living Education

Teaching geography through beautiful artworks

“The Oxbow” by Thomas Cole, 1836 is a perfect example of how fine art can illustrate geographic concepts

There are thousands of beautiful artworks by famous artists throughout history who have painted and sketched the most breathtaking landscapes, towns and cultural life around the world. A quick online search for “famous landscape paintings including rivers / canyons / rural landscapes” will yield some wonderful examples to enjoy alongside your geography curriculum.

Let’s say you are studying river valleys. You can study the picture “The Oxbow” by Thomas Cole (shown above) which shows a perfect example of an oxbow lake in the surrounding landscape in Northampton, Massachusetts, USA.

Learning comes alive with diversity and beauty, so when we can find ways of incorporating lovely artworks, then pictures are created inside the mind of the child, helping to assimilate knowledge, stimulate joy in learning and leading to deeper understanding.

British educator, Charlotte Mason (1842-1923) wrote about how geography can “furnish the mind with ideas,” and through displaying and studying landscape and cultural artworks, we are directly doing this.

The peculiar value of geography lies in its fitness to nourish the mind with ideas, and to furnish the imagination with pictures.
— Charlotte Mason, Home Education

Making Illustrated Maps

Children of all ages love mapmaking. The book “Mapmaking with Children” by David Sobel discusses in detail ways to incorporate mapmaking into your geography lessons. You can start with maps of your local neighborhood, and move onto town maps then country maps, and maps of different styles. Groups of children will even enjoy working together on creating large scale maps that could cover a whole wall of a classroom or home.

Mapmaking can become all in one an exercise in learning geographic concepts as well as using creativity and art skills. Maps can be drawn, incorporate mixed media, or be made into a fold-out book or card. Drawing illustrated maps will cultivate skills of observation and give children opportunities to connect in a creative way with geography concepts. By charting the path of a river or stream and taking note of animals and plants along it’s banks, or noticing the shape of a mountain range and wondering how it was formed, they will come to know and understand geography through the creative process of mapmaking.

The illustrated maps inside the book “What is a River?” (Shown above) are good examples of how creativity and mapmaking can be combined. Students can use books like this for inspiration and ideas in drawing their own maps.

Creating landscape models in salt-dough or clay

Salt-dough and clay are excellent mediums for children to experiment with creating their own three-dimensional landforms. The act of noticing the shape and structure of a landscape and trying to accurately  recreate it in three-dimensions helps children learn in a concrete, hands-on way.

Models can be painted after they are dried, and older students might even enjoy working together to make larger scenes incorporating elements of human geography such as farming, industry, and settlements.

child modelling the mountain ranges and landmarks of Italy, using an illustrated atlas as a guide

Landscape models can also include famous landmarks. Here, the child has drawn an outline of a map of Italy, and has formed the major mountain ranges, rivers and Roman buildings, including an old Roman road, using the book Maps by Aleksandra Mizielinska and Daniel Mizilinski as reference.

Discover more inside “Geography Lessons for a Living Education”

Learn how to easily create lively and engaging geography lessons with “Geography Lessons for a Living Education” - our practical guide for creating rich and meaningful geography lessons. Packed with practical teaching methods, creative approaches, and over 200 top picks for living books, podcasts, audio books, websites and apps, for grades K-12!

Create a rich and joyful living education: Learn how to easily create lessons that foster delight in the study of geography and cultivate deep engagement, creative expression, critical thinking and an expansive knowledge of the world. Purchase here

A child modelling a mountain range and Roman building from clay on a white sheet of paper, using an illustrated book of maps for reference
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