Don't overlook placing a large map on one wall. As news of consequence about problems in specific parts of the world turmoil, earthquakes, floods, monsoons, famine, oil-arise, their locations can be flagged for everyone's benefit. Every home should have an Atlas of fairly recent date-one that, like a dictionary, isn't stored on a shelf collecting dust but is used for frequent reference. An atlas makes a noteworthy birthday or holiday gift. In addition to the locations of countries and cities, a tremendous amount of other important information is given-products, resources, populations, languages spoken, and so on.
Every map has a scale that shows how many inches equal a mile.
The smaller the map, the more miles will be squeezed into an inch. Get out a ruler when figuring distance and ask your child to determine the approximate number of miles from one place to another. This activity can take on added meaning if the family is planning a trip, and the number of miles involved is important. See if he can figure out the number of gallons of gas that will be needed for the trip. Make good use of your local area map.