The more we travel as a family the more we realise how much our children love to be able to understand our travels, and make sense of the world by looking at them on a map. From my daughter looking at the road map in the car in the UK, to my son plotting pirate raids on a map he picked up when we cruised the Caribbean, maps are great fun.
I have wanted to make a map we could stick pins in for years. There is something so satisfying about taking control of the world like this!
Suddenly I found myself with all the things I needed for this project on Sunday night. It went down so well with my children, who are 6 and 8, and has really inspired conversation as a family about what to add to our family ‘travel bucket and spade list’ (bucket list seems too harsh!)
How to Make a Map Pinboard
You will need
Mod Podge – (glue and varnish in one)
A Map
A cork pinboard
Paint for the frame
Brush/sponge
Pins
Instructions
1. Measure up the map and carefully cut it to size to fit the cork board.
2. Paint the frame at this stage (picture below shows map, but ideally paint the frame first!) Leave to dry and apply more coats if desired. I am a lazy painter and just gave it a quick whitewashing, but it depends where the map is going to live.
3. Spread Mod Podge over the cork area using a brush or better still a sponge.
4. Starting at one edge, carefully place and smooth the map down, slowly squeezing out any bubbles. It’s a lot like the technique for sticky back plastic, if you have ever attempted that. Allow to dry.
5. Varnish the map using Mod Podge, make sure to get into the edges to seal them down.
6. Find a home for your new map and decide what the rules of pinning are!
We pinned places we went as a family.
Places I have blogged from for Comic Relief – this really gave the children a sense of how huge Africa is as a continent, and that it is a real place.
This week the kids insisted on adding a pin for Daddy’s work. Then we played ‘pin the tail on the place on the globe you have to visit one day’. My 8yo is off to LA in her lifetime and my 6yo son picked remote Siberia…
The wonderful thing about this is it has really inspired them to imagine the world, to visualise the globe and to think about travel possibilities.
I LOVE this! Problem for me is I want to go so many place I’ll need to find a huge map, but I’m totally going to do this next school holiday 🙂
I have always wanted a pin board map and this is such a lovely how to. Thanks! x
I may have just gone shopping on Amazon… 😉
That’s so lovely – I definitely want to do this with my daughter (maybe when she’s a bit older and won’t try to eat the pins)
Yes, worth waiting until they own’t remove them either!
Yes, worth waiting until they won’t remove them either!
A wonderful simple educational and really personal thing to do Penny. I LOVE it
Glad you approve!
love this idea, I definitely want to try this when my three are a little older.
It is a lovely family ritual I think 🙂
I really love this. I think we’ll make one and put it in the guest sitting room. Thankyou for sharing such a great idea.
Katie
That’s a great idea for a taking point – send us a snap!
Cool idea. This might be good to help me focus on all the places we want to travel to together as a family/
I love this, I see a craft afternoon in my future!