Preschoolers can grasp the idea that they're part of a larger world by seeing and playing with a globe. Seeing it, they learn that the world is round. Point out the United States and their state to them. Show them the states where other people they know live, such as grandparents, aunts and uncles, friends who have moved and states to which they have traveled. A U.S. puzzle where each state is a puzzle piece will help them learn at least a few of the states as they take it apart and put it back together and are told the state names.
As preschoolers learn their address they are learning geography. Help them make a simple map showing their street, with their house or apartment building marked and some of their neighbors homes. Add their friends' or relatives' streets, and places the child goes regularly, such as preschool, church, stores and the park or playground. An easy project for young children is a series of attached circles starting with the smallest, the child's home and street, then their town, their state, the United States and the largest circle showing the world.
Young children are fascinated by different customs and learn about other places by exploring how different people live. The famous educator, Marie Montessori, felt that teaching children about the world along with different cultures taught them geography as well as tolerance and understanding of others. Show them the countries and continents where their own traditions and those of their friends originated. Read stories about people in other cultures and point out that country and continent on the map or globe. Then they can progress to learning all of the continents and the water surrounding them, naming the large oceans as well as small bodies of water near their home.
Using a tactile globe or map enables young children to realize that land forms have bumps -- mountains and valleys -- while the water areas are smooth. On any globe or map, they can see that the world has more water than land, and learn that most of the world -- almost three-fourths -- is water. With help, they can build a world out of salt-and-flour dough, adding a toothpick flag where they live. After letting it dry everyone can paint the world, including deserts, jungles and major mountain ranges. Using small pipe cleaners they might even add people they've read about and animals native to each continent.