Much more than capital cities – how you can help your toddler become a geographer

You might not have given much thought to your toddler's grasp of geography. But the experiences and conversations they have will give them skills and knowledge that provide a rich foundation for understanding people and places – which really is what geography is all about!  

What is geography? 

Aside from population facts, and the names of capital cities, rivers and mountains, geography is a broad subject and one that your toddler can be taking on board every day. If they like looking at maps or have a curiosity about flags, that's fantastic. But their interest in places will be much more connected to their own experience, and the things they can learn are closer to home than you might think. Here are some simple ways to encourage their geographical journey!

Start from their curiosity 

Encourage their inquisitive mind – when you're out and about, chat with them about what you see.  

You could even begin to talk (quite simply) about places you like and places you maybe don’t like so much.  

Simply talking about it being too noisy next to the main road, or loving the busy feel of a shopping centre, will help them think about how people see places.  

And learning that different people like different things is great for their social development too!  

If your toddler stops to look more closely at something, talk to them about it – they might not ask questions yet – but might be interested in a bit more information.  

Near and far away 

Depending on their experience, your toddler might view the big shop, 15 minutes from home, as far away, or might understand that there are other countries that they fly to or go on a ferry to reach.  

Try to give your toddler experiences of a variety of places, even if some of this is through stories or TV programmes. 

If you have family who live further away, chat to your toddler about them, and how long it would take to go and visit them.  

You could even ask a friend to show the view from their window when you have a video call – so your toddler can see the similarities and differences between places.  

Try to make your toddler’s world as big as you can  

So, from a mixture of their experiences, books, stories, videos and chats with friends and relatives, they see the wonderful diversity of people and places, both close to home and further away.