STEM · PRE-K-K, GRADES 1-2 · 20-25 MIN
Follow the Map: Maps & Spatial Thinking lesson plan
Children match rooms on a small paper map to the same rooms on the floor and walk to them using direction words.
At a glance
Time: 20-25 min
Grades: Pre-K-K, Grades 1-2
Subject: STEM: Maps & Spatial Thinking
Grouping: Pairs.
Space: 3-4 rooms with doorways and a START square.
Teacher prep: 10 min printing + 25 min taping
Included: Teacher guide, student sheet, checks for understanding, exit ticket with answers
Open the printable lesson: teacher guide and student sheet →
Essential question
How can a small picture on paper tell us where to go in a big real space?
What students learn and show
Learn: A map is a smaller picture of a real place; the same shapes are in the same places.
Show: Walk to a room shown on the map and mark their own location on the map.
Objectives
Match a room on a paper map to the same room on the full-scale print
Use direction words (left, right, forward, next to) while navigating
Explain that a map is a smaller picture of a real place
Place a sticker on the map to show where they are standing
Before this lesson students should: Can follow two-step directions; knows left/right is helpful but not required.
Materials and prep
The 1:1 print
Letter-size copies of the same plan (one per pair)
Stickers or bingo chips
Optional: a stuffed animal to ‘hide’
Prep (about 10 min to print, 25 min to tape)
Lay out the print or tape 3-4 rooms with doorways.
Copy the small map (one per pair); draw the same rooms if you taped them.
Mark START with tape.
Space: 3-4 rooms with doorways and a START square.
Grouping: Pairs.
Ways to run it: Painter's tape on the floor; 1:1 printed floor plan
Lesson procedure
Teacher model: Hold the map next to the floor: 'This square on the map is this room. Same shape, same place, just smaller.' Walk from START to that room, tracing the route on the map.
Guided practice: Point to one room on the map; pairs walk there and check with a neighbor pair.
Show the paper map next to the print. Ask: what do you notice? Guide students to say the map is the same place, made small.
Point to one room on the paper map. Pairs walk at a calm pace to stand in that room on the print, then check with a neighbor pair.
Reverse it: the teacher stands in a room; students put a sticker on their paper map where the teacher is.
Hide a stuffed animal in one printed room and mark its spot on one map. Pairs read the map and walk to find it.
Close: each pair traces the route they walked on their paper map with a finger, using direction words out loud.
Checks for understanding
Ask: What is a map? Look for: A smaller picture of a real place that shows where things are.
Ask: If a room looks big on the map, will it be big or small on the floor? Look for: Big. The map keeps the same shapes, just smaller.
Ask: Put your chip on the map where you are standing right now. Look for: Chip on the matching room (observed).
Exit ticket
Adult points to a room on the map: 'Walk there.' Answer: Walks to the correct room.
Adult stands in a room: 'Put a sticker where I am.' Answer: Sticker on the correct room.
Scoring: Observed. Mark Yes / Not yet for each item. Both Yes = secure.
Common misconception
Students may think: The map must be turned the same way as the child is facing.
Address it: Turn the map to match the floor (orient it). Show both ways, then line them up.
Supports and extensions
Learning support: Use a map with only two rooms colored in; pair with a navigator partner and pre-walk the route once together.
Multilingual learners: Anchor direction words (left, right, forward, next to) with arm gestures practiced before the walk; label rooms with picture icons on both map and print.
Mobility and access: Children can roll, ride, or point to the room from START; matching map to place stays the goal.
Extension: Hide two objects and give each pair a different map route. Challenge: a student draws their own treasure-map route on the paper plan for a partner to walk.
Transfer task: Use a simple map of the classroom to find a hidden object.
Spaced review: A week later: a new two-room map of the playground.
Standards connections
CCSS K.G.A.1 (standard)
C3 D2.Geo.2.K-2 (standard)
Connections show which skills the activity practices. They are not a claim of full coverage; see the library for scope notes.
Why this approach
A National Academies consensus report arguing that spatial thinking is a teachable, underrecognized skill that belongs across the K-12 curriculum. Limit: A policy and synthesis report, not an experiment. It does not test this lesson.
Ready to teach it?
The printable version has the full teacher guide, a student recording sheet, prep steps and an exit ticket. Open the printable lesson →
Need the floor plan itself? Get a 1:1 print quote.
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