Learn American Geography with a Scavenger Hunt

Even though the Olympics are not in the United States this year, now is a great time to teach kids about geography of all sorts (and I’ll be sharing lots of fun Olympics-related activities later this week).

Whether you tie it to the Olympics or not, these printables and ideas for a geography scavenger hunt from Little Bins for Little Hands are great.

They ask kids to do some research to find and label different states and include questions about your home state. There’s also a printable for learning about another state, which is great if the grandparents live in a different state or you go on vacation somewhere else in the country.

There’s also a printable specific to the Olympics so you can talk about where in the United States the Games have been held before and which events they are most excited about.

If you live in a different country or want to do this for a different country, many of the questions related to the states could be completed for different countries or regions of a country if you like.

Do you have fun ways to teach geography to kids? I’d love to hear your ideas!

[Photo via Little Bins for Little Hands.]

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Celebrating Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month

If you want to teach kids the basics of Hanukkah in the classroom or at home, the picture book Hanukkah by Lesléa Newman and illustrated by Rotem Teplow is a nice place to start.

The book explores the Jewish holiday through the eyes of Lior, a boy whose name means “my light” in Hebrew, which is appropriate for talking about the Festival of Lights.

The book goes through all the preparations the family does, including cleaning, setting the table and cleaning the menorah. It talks about what the menorah symbolizes and the Hanukkah story of the oil in the Holy Temple of Jerusalem lasting for eight days when it should have only been a one-day supply.

The meaning of the letters on the dreidel are also explored, in that when you are in Israel they have a different fourth word (the letters symbolize the Hebrew letters for “a great miracle happened there” or, in Israel, “a great miracle happened here”).

Because the story of Hanukkah involves oil, a lot of the foods that are eaten during the celebration are fried in oil, such as latkes (potato pancakes) and sufganiyot (fried jelly doughnuts). Other foods mentioned include challah, noodle kugel and sour cream and applesauce, which are served with the latkes. Family and friends drop by to share their food, light their menorahs together and play dreidel (the game is explained in the story). It also talks about how the candles are lit through the eight days and what happens at the end of Hanukkah.

The book includes Hanukkah blessings in English and Hebrew and talks about the lunar cycle of the Hebrew calendar, which is why Hanukkah is sometimes celebrated in November and sometimes in December. It also talks about why Jewish holidays are celebrated beginning at sunset rather than in the morning.

Other topics covered include Hanukkah greetings; how to spell Hanukkah; how to make an edible menorah and an tzedakah box (to collect money for charity); recipes for latkes and applesauce; and a more detailed story of Hanukkah than is included within the story of the book. There’s also a quiz to see how well you were paying attention.

This sweet little book is a quick read and a cute overview of the basics of Hanukkah and what the symbols, foods and games mean. It’s a great book for classrooms or at home for sharing basic knowledge.

About the book: 48 pages, hardcover. Published 2024 by words & pictures, suggested retail price $14.99.

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Have you read?

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