Hello my Omschooligans! Today in the Omschool you and I are going to make some hands-on Geography crafts projects. We'll begin by making topography maps. Let's first mix up a large batch of play dough. Make the play dough in class and use it for interactive math measuring lesson plans. Here's an easy play dough recipe. Students will use these in hands-on geography lessons.
🥣 Omschool Kitchen Science: Topography Play Dough
Turn your kitchen into a geography lab with this simple, non-toxic recipe. Use this for interactive lessons in fractions and measurement before the geography lesson begins!
Yield: 1 Student Portion (Multiply for class size)
Ingredients:
1 cup Hot water
1 cup White flour
1/4 cup Salt
1 tsp Vegetable oil
2 tsp Alum (or Cream of Tartar)
Food Coloring (Blue and Green/Plain)
Instructions:
Mix: Combine ingredients with a fork until the dough is smooth and cool enough to handle.
Divide: Separate the dough into two equal balls.
Color: Leave one ball plain (Land) and color the other blue (Water).
Prep: Give each student a paper plate, a plastic knife, and two zippered bags for storage.
Next, introduce geography bee terms and definitions for landforms. Demonstrate shapes of landforms using play dough and then by drawing landforms on the overhead projector. Use black pen for land and blue for water. Students will use their blue and white clay to create landforms based on drawings from the board or overhead projector. Students should locate examples of landforms on topography maps or globes with 3D landforms.
"When modeling these landforms for the class, I like to use a black pen for land and blue for water on the overhead projector. This way, the students can perfectly match their clay colors to my drawings on the board. It keeps everyone on the same page (and the same continent!)"
🗺️ Geography Bee: Landform Key
Use these definitions and examples to identify features on your topography maps and globes.
Water-to-Land Connections
Isthmus: A narrow strip of land separating two large bodies of water and connecting two larger landmasses (e.g., Isthmus of Panama).
Strait: A narrow strip of water separating two large landmasses and connecting two larger bodies of water—the inverse of an isthmus (e.g., Straits of Mackinac).
Delta: The mouth of a river where it fans out in silt or tributaries to meet a larger body of water (e.g., Mississippi Delta).
Island & Coastal Features
Island: A small landmass surrounded by water.
Archipelago: A chain or group of islands (e.g., Hawaii).
Atoll: A circular ring of islands, often surrounding a lagoon.
Peninsula: Land that juts out into a body of water (e.g., Michigan, Florida).
Key: A small island in a chain.
Inland Water Features
River: A narrow strip of water flowing from high to low elevation.
Tributary: A branch or smaller stream that flows into a main river.
Lake: A large body of water, generally smaller than a sea (e.g., Lake Superior).
Basin: The area along a river that is drained by that river.
Elevation & Terrain (Highlands)
Mountain: A high area of land rising to a peak.
Mesa: A steep, narrow elevation with a flat top—like a table.
Butte: An isolated rocky hill with vertical sides and a flat surface.
Plateau: A wide, expansive area of high, flat land.
Cliff/Bluff: Sharp or rounded edges where land drops off to a lower elevation.
Terrain (Lowlands & Passages)
Canyon: A narrow corridor or pass between rocky elevations.
Gorge: A canyon with a riverbed at the bottom (e.g., Snake River Canyon).
Dune: A sandy elevation, often found along the shoreline.
Printable landforms charts
🌍 Landform Discovery Chart
| Category | Landform Type | Description |
| Highlands | Mountain, Mesa, Butte, Plateau, Hill, Bluff, Cliff, Promontory | Elevated areas ranging from sharp peaks to flat-topped "tables." |
| Lowlands | Valley, Canyon, Dune, Basin | Areas that sit below the surrounding terrain, often carved by water or wind. |
| Water Features | River, Tributary, Lake, Bay, Sea, Ocean | Bodies of water that vary by size, salt content, and movement. |
| Coastal & Islands | Peninsula, Cape, Delta, Strait, Isthmus, Archipelago, Atoll, Key | Land features defined by their relationship and proximity to the sea. |
📚 Montessori-Style Landform 3-Part Cards
The Helpful Garden Kid World Citizen Landforms Match-Up Foldable
🧩 Landform Matching Worksheets & Games
Super Teacher Worksheets Tutoring Hour Landform Pack Landforms on Earth Flashcards
- Enchanted Learning has free printable geography worksheets, landforms coloring pages, terrain and topography maps. worksheets, diagrams, labeling pages, coloring pages, puzzles, maps, quizzes and activities.
- Teacher Planet has free printable geography worksheets with matching activities to teach geography and landforms vocabulary.
- Super Teacher Resources has some free printable geography worksheets.
- ESL Tower has many free printable geography worksheets, landforms coloring pages, diagrams, puzzles and topography maps.
- Edupics has free printable social studies coloring pages, world maps, landforms coloring pages, biomes, habitats, nature scenes, political maps, topography maps to use as geography worksheets. This link takes you to free printable maps, diagrams and coloring pages.
