INTRODUCING GEOGRAPHY AND READING MAP SKILLS TO KINDERGARTEN CHILDREN BY USING LARGE-SCALE GIANT MAPS

The construction of space in children develops gradually, as they grow up and is related both to their
environment and to their spatial and/or geographical experiences. According to previous studies, spatial
thinking is malleable, and can be developed with the use of appropriate teaching interventions and
educational material. Geospatial thinking and reading map skills required to decode map symbols are a
relatively new and very interesting topic in kindergarten’s education. Significance of this study is the
creation of two large-scale giant maps, laminated, and appropriate to accompany teaching material that
can be used in a teaching intervention based on the Greek kindergarten curriculum. The first map (scale of
1:1000) is a map of the city of Mytilene, and the second one (scale of 1:20000) is of the island of Lesvos;
both have dimensions 3X4 meters. The purpose of this study is to present the creation of spatial teaching
material, so that map skills in Kindergarten education can be cultivated and developed in order to provide
kindergarten teachers with large scale-giant maps and encourage them to introduce them to their teaching,
as large scale-giant maps are really powerful educational tools for the development of their pupils’ spatial
skills.