Give Your Own Directions: Kindergarten Social Studies

This neighborhood routes worksheet asks children to connect spoken directions and ordered stops with paths on a picture map. Choose a trip from Home that visits two other places. Do not draw it yet. The illustrated activity includes two prompts and a conversation starter. Read the situation together, then look at the details named in the instructions before choosing, drawing, tracing, or explaining a response. An adult can read the words aloud so the child can concentrate on the idea being explored.

The first prompt is: Tell a partner your stops. Ask the partner to trace the route. The second asks: Check the route together. Explain any correction. Take the prompts in that order, giving the child time to point out the relevant part of the scene or explain a choice. Ask what they noticed before offering your own example, and connect any mark on the page with its meaning.

Find the named starting place before tracing and identify the destination or intermediate stops. Follow the peach paths between the labeled places, checking the order against the prompt. When a partner gives the directions, let them finish one step before moving on. Different routes may be reasonable when the instructions allow a choice, but the stated stops still need to match. The conversation starter continues the activity: Explain your idea. Listen to someone else's idea.

Find more activities at this level in Kindergarten Social Studies Adventures. For another activity on the same topic, explore neighborhood routes printables. Use the page during a short conversation at home or in a small group. Finish by asking the child to explain one observation or decision in their own words; a specific example is more useful than repeating a rule without a reason.