Engage children in a physical activity that allows them to locate the continents. Blow up an image of a world map and place it on the floor in your classroom. Name a continent and upon naming it, students must jump onto a part of the landmass on the map that represents that continent you named. For example, if you say Australia, children jump onto the continent of Australia. Alternatively, ask children to jump onto a continent and provide the name for the continent that they land on. This activity is ideal for small groups of students.
Have your students create their own globes. Purchase craft foam balls and instruct children to paint the balls blue. Provide students with pieces of green construction paper and encourage them to draw images that represent the shapes of each continent. Allow them to use maps as references for the shapes of the continents. Print the names on the contents and glue them onto the globes in the correct location.
Help students learn about the characteristics associated with each continent. Discuss characteristics of continents, such as the great plains in North America, the Amazon rainforest in South America and the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. When discussing these characteristics, show your students pictures that illustrate each one. Print out a map with the continents labeled on it. Have children place the pictures of the characteristics on the correct continents.
Most of the continents are composed of different countries. Teach elementary students the names of the major countries that are located on each continent. Offer students black line printouts of a continent and talk about the major countries that are located in the given continent. For example, when learning about Asia, tell children where China and Japan are located. Have children label and color the countries on the continent maps.