You may think of geography and bemoan days of boring locations, map tests, and memorizing capitals and facts without real-world application. As a homeschool mom, geography is anything but boring! It is a necessary skill to instill in our kids because it helps them understand the world as a whole and events, past and present. These skills come in handy when planning trips, understanding politics, the global economy, and even natural disasters. As a Christian, studying locations and events in Bible history can enhance our understanding of the Bible and also remind us to pray for those serving as missionaries in foreign countries. This post is an ever-growing location for the resources we use and love that make geography anything but boring!

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Our Approach to Geography

I teach geography, not as an individual subject, but as an exciting addition to our history studies. We learn history using a timeline approach starting with the creation of the world. As we move along in history we study each location and the events and people involved. Instead of focusing on rote memorization of facts, we use engaging activities, books, and other resources that show geography’s connection to history, culture, and current events.

And now it’s time for geography….a statement never heard in our house. It just comes in naturally when we’re studying history. Studying Julius Caesar?

• Talk about Rome and the surrounding area.
• Discuss its climate, landforms, and allies.
• Discuss how Rome’s location on the Italian Peninsula, with access to the Mediterranean Sea, contributed to its expansion, trade, and military strength.
• Map out his military conquests.
• Explore how Rome’s geographic reach extended across Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East, affecting culture, language, and governance. This is just one example and the possibilities are endless.

This is just one example and the possibilities are endless.

Daily Resources

If you have a good history curriculum, you will find a lot of geography resources within. We use the Mystery of History, and there are map activities for each week with printable maps. Still, we need some extra resources and books to make our lives easier. These resources are things that we own and use on a regular basis. We use lots of maps and atlases.

• Small globe (easy to carry and hold for small hands); great for playing games, identifying locations, and a view of the world as a whole.
• Antique Laminated World Map & US Map: these are beautiful and we have them hanging on our wall. (We attached a board to the top & bottom of each map and hung them with a pretty string)

Books we use and love:

Timelines of World History is an awesome resource for history and geography. It is written in a side-by-side table format so you can see what was happening in different parts of the world at the same time. Each spread covers a specific time period, with parallel timelines for different regions, including Europe, the Americas, Asia, and more. There are colorful illustrations, maps, and fact boxes to bring history to life. I find this very useful in planning and prepping our history curriculum.

Geography Quizzes

I like to have my kids do these for a few minutes each day. As you’re going through your history timeline, do quizzes for that particular country or state. They are fun and game-like and kids love them. (There are ads that pop up on many of these; you just have to close them out)

• Sheppard Software: USA and World games
• Owl and Mouse: Click on a country and see what you remember!
• I Like to Learn: quizzes on countries, states, mountains, and bodies of water
• Action Quiz: very detailed quizzes about each continent, its flags, and general information
• World Geography Games: Choose a continent, country, or study the world as a whole
• Seterra: choose a continent and study its capitals, flags, mountains, & major cities

Geography Curriculum

If you are looking for a full geography curriculum, here are some great ones:

• Guest Hollow’s High School Geography and Cultures Online Textbook (free)
• Road Trip USA and Expedition Earth from Confessions of Homeschooler: We have done both of these, and love them. These downloads are easy to do with multiple ages. You can also pick and choose which parts to use.
• Elementary Geography & Cultures & Elementary U.S. Geography are both wonderful. We love the colorful passport books. You can just buy the books if you don’t need the whole curriculum: Passport to the World, Passport to America.

Fun Interactive Ideas

Map Fun: Play a “Pin the Tail on the Donkey” style game, but with a map! Wherever the marker lands, have your child share what they know about that country or region. If it’s unfamiliar, use it as a starting point for a new geography study.

Race Around the World – Create a scavenger hunt where kids follow clues about different countries to find hidden objects or complete small challenges (e.g., “Find the country known for the Eiffel Tower” → France).

Continent Hop – Place large cutouts or taped outlines of continents on the floor. Call out a country or landmark, and kids must jump to the correct continent. Add challenges like naming a capital city or famous landmark. You could also do this on a smaller scale with a game piece and a small map.

Flag Match-Up – Print or draw various country flags and match them to their correct countries on a large world map. Make it more engaging by learning fun facts about each country as you go.

Taste the World Challenge – Pick a country and prepare a traditional dish from that region. While enjoying the meal, discuss the country’s geography, climate, and how it influences the local cuisine. For added fun, locate the country on a map, learn a few words in the local language, and listen to its traditional music!

Pray Around the World – Choose a country from the Global Prayer Guide. Research the country’s geography, culture, and any known missionaries working there. Then, take time as a family to pray for the people, missionaries, and any specific needs of that nation. To make it more interactive, mark prayed-for countries on a map or create a prayer journal with notes and prayer requests for each location. ❤️

Geography Board Games

• Ticket to Ride Board Game: Players build train routes across a map (various editions available, including USA, Europe, and more), reinforcing knowledge of geography and major cities.
• Who Knows Where?: A trivia-style game that challenges players to locate countries, capitals, and landmarks while learning fun facts.
• The Scrambled States of America Game: A fun, fast-paced game for learning U.S. geography, state locations, capitals, and interesting facts.
• Risk Board Game: A strategy game that helps players learn world geography while planning military conquests across continents
• Geo Bingo: A twist on traditional bingo, featuring countries or states instead of numbers, helping kids recognize places and flags
• 10 Days in The USA: Players plan a trip across a continent, reinforcing map skills and travel routes
• Continent Race: Designed for younger players, this game helps children learn continents, countries, and world geography in a fun, interactive way
• Explorers and Settlers: introduce geographic strategy, resource management, and settlement patterns

YouTube Channels

• Geography Now
• Mr Gedge’s Geography Channel
• CrashCourse (preview first)
• Drive Thru History with Dave Stotts
• History Channel

I hope this posts inspires you to give geography another chance! It is a subject that connects us to history, culture, current events, and even our faith. By making geography an interactive and engaging part of our homeschool, we help our children develop a deeper understanding of the world and how God is working in it. So give geography another try and make it exciting! Learning about God’s world is never boring!