The Reach the World GeoGames website features two games: Build Planet Earth, which challenges players to place major geographic features in their correct locations on a blank globe, and Map Countries and Cities, which tests your child’s knowledge of geography by locating countries and their capitals.This can be a good tool for children to practice their mapping and geography skills.

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Nikki Phipps is a freelance writer of numerous articles and other publications, including the premiere issue of Perspectives Magazine. She also maintains a gardening site, GardenCrypt, in her spare time. Drawing inspiration from family and past experiences, Nikki believes everyone has something to say that can benefit others, which is why she turned to writing. “There’s no better tool for learning than that of personal experience.” Nikki resides in NC with her children.

Name of Product: Reach the World GeoGames

Link to Product/website: http://www.reachtheworld.org/geogames/index.html

Description of Product:“Reach the World “GeoGames” is a free online game created by Teachers College, National Geographic and Dangerous Media Geography that teaches geography concepts in a fun, interactive way. Students and teachers across the nation use these resources to augment Social Studies, Science, Literacy and other curricula. Reach the World’s primary mission is to ensure that every student develops an in-depth understanding of political, economic, environmental and cultural geography.”

Nikki’s Description of Product: The website features two games: Build Planet Earth, which challenges players to place major geographic features in their correct locations on a blank globe, and Map Countries and Cities, which tests your child’s knowledge of geography by locating countries and their capitals. Users can also choose between Easy, Medium, and Hard levels to find one suitable for your child’s current knowledge.

The game is easy to play; simply drag and drop the country or continent shapes onto the globe, then add the corresponding cities or capitals. When you drag a shape over the globe, a faint outline of the location may appear momentarily until your child has dropped one into position. If the shape is near the correct area, it will drop into place. If not, the shape will return to white box from where your child started. If at any time your child becomes stuck, he or she can get a hint by clicking on the “Sneak Peak” button.

When your child is finished, there is a print out feature so your child can keep the map, as you’re unable to save it otherwise. GeoGames also includes a personalization feature that enables your child to add a title and description to the map. The time score can be used to help to track your child’s improvement over time.

Homeschool Uses: This can be a good tool for children to practice their mapping and geography skills. The game allows your child to locate continents, countries, and cities as well as oceans and rivers. Primary and elementary school-aged children may find this online tool more beneficial. After children are finished building their maps, they can be printed and used for review offline, if needed.

Content and Safety: The game is safe and easy to use. There is nothing to sign up for and no personal information is required for use.

Nikki’s Experience Using the Product: I played both games and found them to be easy enough for use with elementary aged children. The instructions were easy to follow and the tools were easy to maneuver. I think younger children would find this game quite engaging, which should make learning geography a lot more fun. However, it looks as if it’s designed more for younger children and only has limited geographical information.

Tutorial or Promotional Video of the Product: You can view the GeoGames video tutorial on the Reach the World site or you can watch below:

Summary: I thought the overall concept was good for teaching children geography in a fun way. I think the interactive manipulative does indeed draw younger users in. However, older kids may find it to be somewhat uneventful, as there is little action, and even the hard level seems rather easy. In addition, there are only so many cities, countries, etc. available, which makes the geography learning limited to only those areas.

Editor’s Note: Read these FREE Geography Tool Reviews:
The World IS a Canvas! Explore Geography and Culture with MapSkip.
Fun, interactive and FREE! Learn geography online!
Free 3D photos of U.S. National Parks, virtal tours, and more!
Take a virtual tour of the Interactive Maps of the World (Field Museum, Chicago)