The Portable Homeschool Map Solution: ScrunchMaps
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Teaching our children about the world takes many forms. Maps, globes, videos, and drawings all help to expand a little one’s view of the earth and what it’s made of. ScrunchMap offers a unique experience with tangible, touchable, scrunchable maps.
A special thanks to Timberdoodle Co. for graciously sending us a discounted copy of United States ScrunchMap in exchange for our honest review.
The United States ScrunchMap is available from Timberdoodle individually and is also a part of the Elite 5th Grade Curriculum Kit. The World ScrunchMap is also available individually or as part of the 1st Grade Curriculum Kit.
Tangible vs. Display
Most schoolroom maps line the walls in colorful display, but how much learning happens when a child can only look up at the world instead of interacting with it? Visual learners might study a map on the wall, but a kinesthetic learner doesn’t have a lot of options aside from puzzles and spinning a globe.
ScrunchMaps offer a totally portable, scrunchable, durable map that welcomes children and adults to interact with it on a regular basis. The material is water and tear-resistant, and can be hung up or scrunched in a compact bag for storage.
Though the material reminds me of disposable table cloth, the quality is unmatched and the color is vibrant and smooth. The United States map measures 36 inches wide by 24 inches high and is as versatile as you want it to be. Certainly, you can hang or display it, but you can also fold or scrunch it. Children especially enjoy the feeling of scrunching their school materials into a small ball after use!
What We Thought
Out of the packaging, the map is crisp, just like any other paper map. For a rule-follower like myself, it felt very strange to scrunch it into a ball, but once you start, the feeling of stuffing it into a compact bag for storage is exhilarating!
While I fully enjoy the ease of scrunching the map, it is worth noting that the map will require a good deal of smoothing out to not have a scrunched look, which may bother some people. If that’s you, you may prefer to fold your map for storage.
My daughter is in Kindergarten and a kinesthetic learner. She has many questions about the world and where we live, and finding creative ways to make it all make sense can be challenging. Puzzles are great, but they take time to complete and can’t be left out. Globes are also handy, but the pictures and words are so tiny that it’s not easy to see.
Though she doesn’t fully grasp the concept of countries and states yet, we do go over the state and city we live in, and where other friends and family members live in. She always enjoys comparing how far away or how close those locations are on the map!
In contrast, ScrunchMaps are large, already complete, easy to pull out and put away, and best of all, are hard to damage. Truly, these maps are becoming a beloved tool for our homeschool, and will be for many years to come.
Final Thoughts on ScrunchMap
I appreciate many things about ScrunchMaps. The unique feature of being portable, durable and scrunchable is highly valued in our homeschool.
The United States ScrunchMap is available from Timberdoodle individually and is also a part of the Elite 5th Grade Curriculum Kit. The World ScrunchMap is also available individually or as part of the 1st Grade Curriculum Kit.
Related Homeschooling Articles:
• Plus-Plus Excursion || Hands-On STEM
• Math for Kindergarten || Timberdoodle Elite Kit Review
• Planning Your Homeschool Year When Your Child Doesn’t Fit the Academic Mold
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The Portable Homeschool Map Solution: ScrunchMaps
