Make a Map of Your House

• Although we usually think of maps as depictions of large locations like cities or countries, some maps, such as park maps, detail information of smaller areas. The mapmaker Johann Hartlieb even made maps of his hands. For a fun map making game, create a map of your house or room. Imagine someone who has never visited your house before. What essential information would they need to get around? Detail the various rooms in your house, unique features of the different rooms and any potential hazards or off-limits areas that guests will need to know.
  
  If you have a backyard, focus on the topography of the land. For a more social gaming experience, play this game with friends and try to draw maps of your friends' houses.
  
  

Make a Map of Your Neighborhood

• Once you've mastered your house map, you may want to attempt to make a map of your whole neighborhood. Look at existing maps of your neighborhood for inspiration but don't copy these maps. Your neighborhood map should reflect your own interactions with your neighborhood. Include locations of interest to you such as parks, schools and your favorite stores. If various monumental events happened to you in different parts of your town, note these events on the map.
  
  If you have friends who all live in the same neighborhood, take turns and add different map features to the neighborhood map. Then you will have a document of the areas that mean the most to each individual friend and your whole group at large.
  
  

Geography Games

• To play geography games, print out or photocopy of a map of the world, a continent or country. White out the names of cities, states, countries or other map locations. Gather friends together and see who comes up with the most geographic locations. For added pressure, put a time limit on the game. Each participant or team will have the same map with various whited out locations. Whoever identifies the most names in a given period of time wins. For a variation on this game, require participants to identify geographic land and water features such as peninsulas, straits and bays.