Parent tip
Set out crayons and markers before inviting your toddler in so the first minute feels smooth.
Imaginary Map Making
Draw a map of an imaginary land together, naming places and inventing the stories that go there.
Activity details
Instructions
- Spread a large piece of paper on the floor or table.
- Announce: "We're going to draw a map of a world we're making up right now."
- Ask your child: "What kind of land is it? Is it an island? A floating castle?"
- Draw the outline together.
- Take turns adding features: "What should we put here?"
- For each feature, ask: "What's it called? Who lives there?"
- Add colour and labels (you write what they dictate).
- At the end, tour the whole map together and narrate a short adventure story through it.
What success looks like
Messy hands and a child who doesn’t want to stop. The artwork doesn’t need to look like anything — the process is the point.
Take a large sheet of paper and announce that you're going to draw a map of a completely made-up place. Begin by drawing the outline together — maybe an island, maybe a floating cloud kingdom. Add features: a volcano, a chocolate river, a sleeping giant's cave, a village of tiny people. Name each place and decide who lives there and what they do. This is geography, storytelling, and illustration combined — and because the world is entirely invented, every child's input shapes it.
Why it helps
Speech and Language UK recommends following a child's lead during play and narrating what they are doing as one of the most effective ways to build language skills. Spatial language and mapping activities in early childhood predict later mathematical and scientific reasoning, particularly geometry and measurement (Verdine et al., 2017). Creating an imaginary world also requires sustained narrative thinking — inventing characters, places, and cause-and-effect relationships — building the story grammar that underpins reading comprehension. The child's strong ownership over the invented content increases intrinsic motivation and deepens engagement with literacy and drawing tools.
Variations
- Make the map of your home or local park first, then invent a fantasy version.
- Add a legend: little symbols that mean different things.
- Use the map as the basis for a future treasure hunt.
Safety tips
- Use chunky, washable markers for younger children in this age range.
- Display the map where it can be revisited and extended over multiple days.
- Keep marker lids collected and out of reach of younger siblings — small caps are a choking hazard.
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