This map symbols lesson helps children aged 7 to 9 understand symbols by making and testing their own. Instead of memorising a fixed set of national symbols, they represent familiar features in a classroom, playground or imagined park.
You will be able to run the lesson with paper, pencils and a few small objects. Children will create a map key, exchange maps, follow a route or locate an object, then revise symbols that another reader finds unclear. Formative Assessment During Lessons Ages 7 to 11
The approach keeps map reading concrete. Young children can already use simple maps for navigation, as shown in a Journal of Cognition and Development study of children’s map reading. Your task is to help them make the connection between a real feature, its position and the mark chosen to represent it. How to Prepare for Safeguarding Concern Meeting as NQT
Contents
Choose one familiar place to map
Start with a space children already know well. A classroom is usually the easiest choice because children can look from the room to the page as they work. Use part of the room if the whole space contains too much detail.
Walk around the chosen area together. Ask children to name features that stay in place and help someone recognise the space. These might include the door, teacher’s desk, book corner, sink, storage area or large rug.
Agree where the map will begin and which way it will face. You might draw a plain rectangle for the room and mark the door first. Children can then use that fixed point to work out where other features belong.
If mapping the classroom is impractical, choose a small playground area or make up a simple park. An imagined park can include a gate, pond, tree, bench and play area. Keep the space limited so that teaching map symbols remains the main task rather than an exercise in detailed drawing.
Tell children that the map does not need to look like a photograph. It needs to show useful features in roughly the right places so another person can read it.
Introduce symbols as a shared code
Explain a symbol as a mark that carries an agreed meaning. Draw a small square and tell the class it represents a table. Ask whether a new reader would know that meaning without help. This creates a clear reason for adding a map key.
You can say, “A symbol lets us show a real feature without drawing every detail. The key tells readers what our marks mean.” Point out that a useful symbol should be quick to draw, easy to recognise and different from the other symbols nearby.
Model how a shared code depends on agreement. A blue circle could represent a pond on one map and a meeting point on another. Neither choice is automatically wrong, but the map reader must be able to find its meaning in the key.
Offer your model symbols as examples rather than the only correct answers. Ask children to connect each mark on the page with a feature and its position in the mapped space. They can choose different symbols if they record each meaning clearly in the key.
Finish the introduction by checking the distinction between a symbol and a key. The symbol is the mark on the map. The key is the guide that explains what each mark represents.
Make a five-symbol map key
Model a short key containing five clearly different symbols. Place the key beside the map rather than scattering labels across it. This keeps the map readable and lets children match repeated symbols with one explanation.
Choose features that are easy to find in the selected space. For a classroom, your model might use:
- a rectangle with crossed lines for a table;
- a small open rectangle for a door;
- a circle filled with dots for a rug;
- a row of short lines for a bookcase;
- a star for the place where an object will be hidden.
Draw each symbol in one column and write its meaning beside it. Think aloud while you work: “The table and door cannot both be plain rectangles, or the reader may confuse them. I will add crossed lines to the table.”
Give pairs a blank page and ask them to select five features. They can use your choices or substitute features that matter in their space. Children should sketch each symbol in the key before placing it on the map. This reduces the chance that the same feature will receive several different marks.
Keep decoration separate from information. A child may want to draw books, toys and individual chairs, but those details can crowd the symbols. Ask, “Will this help your partner locate the feature or follow the route?” If not, it can be omitted.
Before pairs begin mapping, check that every chosen feature has a key entry and that every key entry will appear on the map.
Let pairs draw and use their maps
Make the map communicate something to another person. Give each pair a small object, counter or folded paper marker. One child secretly chooses a mapped location while the other uses the symbols and key to place the object there.
You can run the task in two ways:
- Find the location: The mapmaker marks a destination with the agreed symbol. The reader identifies the corresponding place in the real space and puts the object there.
- Follow a route: The mapmaker draws a line from a clear starting point to a destination. The reader traces the route on the page, then walks it or describes each turn.
Ask partners not to explain the answer while the reader is working. A pause or wrong turn provides useful evidence about the map. If the mapmaker has to say, “That shape means the bookcase,” the key or symbol needs attention.
Encourage the reader to speak aloud: “I started at the door. The route passes the rug symbol, but I cannot tell which rectangle is the table.” This gives the mapmaker precise feedback instead of a simple judgement that the map is good or bad.
Swap roles so both children create and read. Watch for three aspects of map reading: matching symbols to the key, using relative positions and maintaining the map’s orientation. Prompt readers to describe what is beside, between or opposite another feature, then use their answers to identify where the map needs revision.
Test whether each symbol is clear
Treat confusion as a reason to revise the map, not as failure. After the first test, ask readers to point to the easiest symbol and the hardest symbol. They should explain what helped or caused uncertainty.
Give pairs a short checking routine:
- Can the reader find every symbol in the key?
- Do any symbols look too similar?
- Does one symbol have more than one meaning?
- Is a symbol used on the map but missing from the key?
- Can the reader tell where to start and which way the map faces?
Children then revise one part of their map. They might add dots to distinguish the rug from a table, enlarge a small mark, remove unnecessary decoration or add a missing key entry. Ask the original reader to test the revised version without further explanation.
Use revisions as assessment evidence. Listen as children explain what made a symbol difficult to read and what they changed. Their comments can reveal how they are thinking about contrast, consistency, position and meaning.
End with a quick comparison between pairs. Display two different symbols for the same feature and ask whether both can work. Guide children towards the idea that symbols do not need to be identical, but each map needs a clear and consistent shared code.
Offer a tactile version when needed
Replace visual differences with textures and raised shapes when a child needs to read the map by touch. Keep the mapped space and task the same. This allows the child to work on the shared geographical idea rather than complete a separate activity.
Use available materials such as card, string, foam, textured paper, hook-and-loop fastener or adhesive shapes. Mount them securely on firm card. A raised string line can show the route, while strongly contrasting textures can represent fixed features.
Choose tactile map symbols deliberately. Symbols that look different may feel almost identical, especially when they are small or placed close together. Research reported by the Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness evaluated tactile map symbols across production methods, reinforcing the need to consider how symbol designs work in the finished tactile format.
Before making a complete map, let the child compare possible symbols without being told their meanings. Ask which pairs are easy to distinguish by touch. Use that feedback to create the key.
Keep routes uncluttered and leave clear gaps between symbols. Add a raised boundary and a tactile marker for the starting position. Place tactile key symbols in an orderly line so the reader can compare them with symbols on the map.
If the child uses braille or another established access method, coordinate with the relevant specialist and follow the child’s usual classroom practice. A tactile version should not depend on sighted guessing. Let the child test and revise it, just as other pairs test their drawn maps.
This low-prep lesson makes map symbols purposeful. Children create a shared code, use it to communicate a location or route, and improve it when another reader encounters a problem.
Keep the first map small and familiar. Once children can explain why their symbols work, you can transfer the same process to a playground, local area, story setting or more formal map.
