Continent Boxes Add Excitement to Geography
A few years ago, I spent some time putting together a box for each of the seven continents. As you can imagine, I used card materials from my continent and country kits, but I also bought books, objects, and memorabilia to make each box special.
I think boxes like these are a great way to organize geography materials, and make it fun and easy to study each continent. Since many of you have asked me how I put the boxes together, I’ve taken pictures of all my boxes and their contents to give you some ideas.
(To see all my continent box pictures, full size, please visit my Montessori for Everyone Facebook page!)
1. The Boxes
I decided to use photo shoe boxes for my continent boxes. I found one to match each continent color (according to the traditional Montessori continent colors) except for yellow (Asia). My Asia kit resides in a blue box. If you ever see a yellow photo box for sale online, let me know!
I printed two labels for each box, with the name of the continent on it. One to go on the front of the box (most photo boxes have little metal label holders) and one to go on the lid of the box.
I keep the boxes stacked on the lower level of my map cabinet, so that they are readily available when we use the wooden puzzle maps. An atlas and globe are also nice to have nearby.
2. Organizing Card Materials
I like to put the card sets in envelopes that match the color of the continent. I print labels to go on the front of these as well. When the sets are large (like Asia flags), I divide them into two or more sets. I use the continent materials primarily in elementary, not primary, so I make the flags/places/animals/plants as 2-part cards, not 3-part.
For 2-part cards, I print only one set of the cards, the ones with the line in between the picture and label. I cut the cards apart, and then put colored sticker dots on the backs to color-code them.
When my kids use the cards, they match them as best they can, then turn them over to check (or to figure out any that they didn’t know on sight). I find this works well for elementary; using the control cards just makes it too easy. You could print the control cards and make them into a book, if you wanted. The children could get the control book after matching the cards to check their work.
3. Adding Books to the Boxes
I was delighted to find two different series of books that have one book for each continent. You can find them at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or used on eBay. They are:
True Books – Continents by David Petersen
Rookie Read-About Geography Books by Allan Fowler
What I like about both types of books is that they are small enough to fit inside the photo boxes, and they give nice overviews of each continent. They are a starting point, naturally; most kids will want to do further research after reading these books, in which case a trip to the library is probably in order.
4. Adding Objects and Memorabilia
It’s a longtime tradition in Montessori to add objects to geography studies. They stimulate a child’s interest and imagination. It can be hard to find things from each continent, though. I’ve had success on eBay, particularly, buying inexpensive things like:
stamps
paper money
coins
postcards
bookmarks
stickers
rocks and minerals
CDs of global music (I love the Putamayo World Music CDs)
If you have friends and family who live abroad, or who are traveling, ask them to bring back some small mementos for you. I know of programs where Montessori schools or families in different countries become penpals, in which case you can exchanges items from each country.
There are quality animal figurines available from several manufacturers, including Schleich and Safari Ltd (Google to find sources) so that you can add a few to each continent box.
Larger items, like maps, posters, and flags, can be kept in expandable files or other containers and brought out whenever you study that particular continent.
5. Additional Resources
Here are some other great ideas for continent boxes and studies:
A Continent Box from The Wonder Years
Continent Boxes Finally Ready from LaPaz Home Learning
Continent Boxes Redux from Sweetness and Light
World Tour: Care to Come Along? from the Seredipity blog
Continents and Cultures: Africa from the Serendipity blog – an unbelievable list of projects, book recommendations, and lesson plans for Africa
Continents and Cultures: India and the Middle East from the Serendipity blog – similar to the Africa post; a huge resource
Guides for the Montessori Classroom from New Child Montessori – the four guides, together, cover all seven continents and include songs, book lists, art projects, poems, and other resources for continent studies
Montessori ‘n’ Such – click on their “Cultural and Geography” category and you’ll find a great selection of continent items, including books, CDs, puzzles, pictures, coins, and even children’s clothing from various countries
Remember, you can view all my continent box pictures at my Montessori for Everyone Facebook page.
If you have any other ideas for continent boxes, or places that you can find continent books and objects, please share!
Followed you over from facebook — these are lovely! I’m a Primary Directress.
I currently have folders with pictures from each continent. One of my goals last year was to create something just like this. Your photo’s have inspired me, yes, never got it done last year. I’m thinking a shoe store may be a good place to “ask” if they could give you some of their shoe boxes, and then decorating them accordingly.
Thank you!! (Love your blog, and the facebook page!)
Thank you, Mandy! I’m so glad you like the pictures. It’s a great idea to use shoe boxes and decorate them. Let me know how that goes!
This is an interesting approach. I have my continent folders in binders. In the binder are 5 Velcro-pouches. The first is always general and the subsequent folders are more specific – food, people at work, homes, animals, etc. If I have a good amount of objects, I’ll make an “interest table”. I like the idea of using boxes instead of an interest table, that way they are always available. Do you have separate folders or everything in the boxes? I’m wondering if I’d have enough space to do both.
I love your continent boxes and how you use them! This site specializes in Montessori style materials for South America, Africa and Asia.
http://www.educationalunits.com
Perfect timing! I am working on our Continent Boxes! One nice addition to mine were the Continent books that Chick-fil-A came out with this summer. Each one featured several children and what their life was like (school, home, etc). We loved reading those books.
PSMontessori – I’ve never used folders, just the envelopes and boxes. But I’m only using card materials, not larger pictures, so that works for me.
Marian – thanks for the link to your site! Your stuff looks great.
Gigi – those books sound awesome! That reminds me of one of my favorite books: Children Just Like Me! from Dorling Kindersley. They describe a day in a typical child’s life for many different countries, in a way that makes it come alive for children.
I painted my boxes using acrylic paints. I just put on a couple of coats. The boxes turned out nicely. I couldn’t find yellow or orange.
You can see them here.
Those look great, Patty! I like the idea of painting the boxes if you can’t find the right colors. I’m glad to know that acrylic paints work well for that.
Fantastic! I can’t wait to make my continent boxes, this will be a great help.
I just rearranged and set up my geography area today. It turns out I might have some space for boxes (eventually). You can see pics over at my blog. Thanks for the ideas!
Hello,
I used see through storage boxes for mine, then added a large Colour Coded label (as per continent globe) on the lid. That way the children can see into the boxes to encourage use. In the last nursery I worked for the boxes used to just sit on the shelf as the children did not see what they were missing out on!
Hi, Hayley! I love that idea. Easy to find the boxes (rather than searching for colored ones) and then, as you said, the children can see that something interesting is inside. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Lori! Yet again, another brilliant post. This is going to be very helpful to so many of us putting materials together before the start of the new school year. Thanks a bunch!
Lori, do you think that continent boxes would be beneficial in the primary classroom as well? I’m hosting a Montessori 3-6 co-op in my home this year and was wondering about the boxes for them. I will definitely be making these for my 6-9 year olds though!
Thanks!
-Susana
http://www.montessoricandy.com
P.S. I’ll have to blog about this one Lori! You are awesome!
Hi, Susana! Glad you like the post. I never specified an age group because continent boxes can be used with all ages.
Thanks for stopping by!
Hello Lori – I have been preparing continent boxes for our local mobile toy library here in the Highlands of Scotland. These have been on a larger scale since they also include ‘dressing up’ versions of national or traditional costume. The latest one to be completed is the Antarctic Box. It contains a felt map of Antarctica, simple reference book and story books, photos, snowflake-shaped cutters for making biscuits, an ‘aurora’ (multi-coloured silk banner, model penguins and whales (toothed and baleen), a child-sized penguin outfit and baby penguin, fish-shaped ice cube trays (for ice fish!) and a small rucksack with mixture of teddy/doll clothes to select for the trip to Antarctica.
If anyone has any further ideas for an Oceania box, I’d be very greatful. Best wishes, Sue.