I have a child who needs to identify all 50 states on a map and their capitols. She doesn’t really get map reading just yet, and it is a struggle for her to learn all the states.

I pulled out our chunky wooden map of the United States puzzle. Said child gushed, “I LOVE that puzzle!”

Mind you, this is the same child who threw tantrums and flatly refused to work on the puzzle years ago when I had decided that playing with the puzzle was geography for the year.

After she played with the puzzle, this child was able to identify various states that she hadn’t known beforehand.

Which brings me to my titular question. I know all about the math manipulatives. We have been using them for years, and I’m pretty pleased with the results thus far. When I was a child, I made maps of my state and my birth state out of homemade play dough (salt relief Maps), and the hands on activity probably really helped my memory.

What do you use to teach geography?