Exploring Their World: A Care Package for Grandkids
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When I wrote my Grand Vision, I declared that part of my purpose as a grandparent is to teach my grandchildren to explore the world. I’d love to regularly take them on excursions around their town—or mine. I’d like to point out the constellations, show them the difference between a lake and an ocean, and tell them about all the places we’ve lived. I look forward to eventually taking them on trips to places that intrigue them, and places that I want them to experience. I can’t wait to someday sit down with them, pour over maps and make plans for where to explore next.
But right now they live too far away for us to regularly explore together, and they are still too young for trips that will make an impact. So recently, I sent them a box full of ways for them to plan and explore the world from their house.
How will this foster connection? Knowing where you are in the world, and where the people you love are, helps make sense of the universe. It creates a framework for conversations, and a springboard for future plans. Plus, it shows them that I value exploration, while giving them something new to learn and do!
Every explorer needs to have a basic understanding of maps, so that’s what this care package focused on. Here’s what I included:
These two books were a great introduction of how maps help us find out where we are and where we want to go.
Me on the Map by Joan Sweeney and illustrated by Qin Leng shows kids how maps tell us where we are, from their bedroom to the larger world. The simple, colorful illustrations do an excellent job of conveying what can be a hard concept for young children to grasp.
Follow That Map!: A First Book of Mapping Skills by Scot Ritchie goes into more depth on how to read and use a map. It’s a great overview of why maps are important when you want to know where you are and where to go! It seems to be out of print, but there are lots of copies on Amazon from a variety of sellers.
I included a street map of their hometown, which I found on Amazon. Although they live in a big city, I was pleased to see there are lots of smaller town maps available as well. Start here, and if you don’t see your grandchild’s hometown, just enter “Street map + their city and state” in the Amazon search bar to see if you can find one.
The stickers and games in this National Geographic Kids World Atlas Sticker Activity Book can provide hours of entertainment. With big maps and lots of stickers, it’s a great way to introduce other places in the world.
This set of three laminated maps, one of the solar system, one of the world, and one of the United States, will help them understand how their place in the world fits into the bigger picture. They come rolled up, but a couple days under a heavy book flattened them out.
Look at all that buried treasure!
I added a pack of kid’s graph paper, and some erasable colored pencils so they could create their own maps. You might notice this map of their house has a lot of buried treasure in the back yard—it’s a good thing I never share where they live!
This working compass was a big hit! Though there are many compasses available, this one looked like it was special, instead of just another toy. It made my explorers feel very official.
Exploring always starts with knowing where we are. This care package helped my grandchildren understand their place in the world, and got them excited about finding new places to go. In the years to come, we’ll be able to go explore together—and with luck, I can put them in charge of navigating.