Making cookies shaped like your state is an easy, multisensory geography lesson. You can use paper or whole wheat bread instead of cookies, but we find that people remember the lesson better with gingerbread.
Start with a state-shaped cookie cutter. Have students use it to cut out cookie dough or bake the cookies up yourself and bring them to class. Gingerbread or another sturdy recipe will stand up to the lesson better than something like sugar cookie dough.
And, as mentioned above, you can also use paper cut outs, especially if your schools isn’t set up to allow baking during the school day.
Have students use blue frosting to draw in the major rivers and waterways, lakes, and other bodies of water in your state.
Add raisins or chocolate chips to show your major cities.
Now, ask students to tell you what they notice. Pretty much every time, you’ll find that major cities are along the water.
Ask students why. This provides an opportunity to discuss the importance of water. People needed water for drinking and to water their crops. They needed water for their domestic animals and for washing. You can also discuss how water allowed people to travel before we had railroads or roads.
Eat the cookies!
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