• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Start Here
  • Homeschooling
  • Shop
  • Member Log In
  • Cart

Gift of Curiosity

Sparking children's creativity and learning

  • Holidays
  • Seasons
  • Subject Areas
  • Themes
  • Age
Home
  • Blog
    • Holidays
    • Seasons
    • Subject Areas
    • Themes
    • Age
  • Start Here
  • Homeschool
  • Shop
  • Member Log In
  • Cart

Introduction to land, air, and water {preschool geography}

2 Comments Preschool

Sharing is caring - thank you for spreading the word!

60.8K shares
  • Share135
  • Twitter
  • Email

This post may contain affiliate ads at no cost to you. See my disclosures for more information.

In Montessori education, there is usually an introductory geography lesson focused on land, air, and water. In this post I’m sharing how I introduced the concepts of land, air, and water to my kids as part of our preschool geography lessons.

Note: You can find more kid-friendly geography activities on my geography unit study page. 

Introduction to land, air, and water: a fun, Montessori-inspired preschool geography lesson that helps kids understand what our earth is made of || Gift of Curiosity

Filling containers with land, air, and water

To introduce this lesson, I put together a tray with the following materials:

  • A small globe
  • 3 empty glass containers labeled “land,””air,” and “water”

I explained to my children that the earth is made up of land, air, and water. I showed them the labels on the glass containers, and asked them if they would help me fill each container with the item listed on the label.

Introduction to land, air, and water: a fun preschool geography lesson that helps kids understand what our earth is made of || Gift of Curiosity

We went outside to collect dirt for the container labeled “land.”

Air was easy to gather, since it is all around us. 🙂

And we used water from the sink to fill the container labeled “water.”

Introduction to land, air, and water: a fun preschool geography lesson that helps kids understand what our earth is made of || Gift of Curiosity

Then we brought our filled containers together to look at them.

Introduction to land, air, and water: a fun preschool geography lesson that helps kids understand what our earth is made of || Gift of Curiosity

Land, air, and water 3-part cards

My kids also worked to sort a collection of land, air, and water 3-part cards.

Introduction to land, air, and water: a fun preschool geography lesson that helps kids understand what our earth is made of || Gift of Curiosity

The set of cards include one header card plus an additional six cards for each category. My kids sorted the cards under each of our three glass containers.

Introduction to land, air, and water: a fun preschool geography lesson that helps kids understand what our earth is made of || Gift of Curiosity

Read books about land, air, and water

There are also several books you might choose to read with your children as you study air, land, and water. Here are a couple I would recommend:

Air Is All Around You by Franklyn M. Branley.

Dumbo: on Land on Sea in the Air by Jerry Walters – this one is out of print but would be a great read if you can find it.

UPDATE: I’ve created two printables that are perfect for your beginning geography lessons! Grab a copy of my Land, Air, and Water Animals sorting cards and my Land, Air, and Water Transportation sorting cards as a wonderful resource for your lessons.

  • Land, Air, and Water Transportation Sorting Cards

    $1.99
  • Land, Air, and Water Animals Sorting Cards

    $1.99

More geography resources

More geography posts from Gift of Curiosity:

  • Books about maps and globes
  • Montessori mapping activities
  • Montessori directionality activities
  • How to make a working compass
  • Introduction to land, air, and water
  • Montessori continents activities
  • Teaching the continents by making a globe
  • Montessori animals and their continents
  • Montessori landform activities
  • Montessori continents and world map printables

You can find more kid-friendly geography activities on my geography unit study page and my Geography Activities for Kids Pinterest Board.

Filed Under: Preschool, Geography, Montessori

You May Also Enjoy These Posts

Apple I SpyMake the advent season extra special with these Christmas Countdown Coloring CardsHow to assemble a flashlight {Practical life skills}

Reader Interactions

2 Comments

  1. KIM

    June 17, 2017 at 11:33 pm

    This was very helpful 🙂 I love this !!

    Reply to this comment
  2. Sahera

    October 13, 2019 at 8:37 pm

    We did today. Kids enjoyed and learnt more.
    Thanks

    Reply to this comment

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Hey there, I’m Katie

I help parents who are transitioning into homeschooling shed old mindsets and embrace their homeschooling superpowers so they can create a homeschool they love where their children will thrive.

Learn more about me and what I do HERE.

Hands-On

Get 10 ideas for easy, hands-on activities you can do with your kids TODAY to make learning more fun.

Check out these related products in the shop!

Toddler Skills Pack Bundle

Preschool Math Pack Bundle

Printables Pack Bundle

Measurement Activity Packs Bundle

Volcano Printables Bundle

Shop All Resources

  • Contact
  • About Me

Copyright © 2022 Gift of Curiosity  •  All Rights Reserved  •  Privacy  •  Terms of Use  •  Site Design by Emily White Designs

Posting....