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Finding the geography in the five F’s

Finding the geography in the five F’s

7 March 2025

Read time: 4mins

‘For a submission for the GA Primary Geography Quality Mark the trick is to find the geography in these activities and show how these can develop and enhance the teaching of the subject.’

Paula Richardson

Finding the geography in the five F’s – food, festivals, fashion, forest schools and flags

The joy of a broad and balanced primary curriculum is that besides covering core skills of knowledge, skills and understanding, it both allows and encourages children to develop soft skills such as the ability to work with others, critical thinking, creativity, and a range of personal and social skills.

This is often done by offering children several first hand and memorable experiences which aim to further children’s understanding of the world around them. These aspects may relate to a variety of curriculum areas as well as geography.

For a submission for the GA Primary Geography Quality Mark the trick is to find the geography in these activities and show how these can develop and enhance the teaching of the subject. The sections which follow make some suggestions as to how the geography links can be developed in each of them.

Forest schools

The forest school approach to learning is underpinned by a specific philosophy which is based on child centred activities which offer the chance to develop a relationship with nature, giving freedom to try out things and take risks.

The activities are often cross curricular and so your task is to identify which of these provide good geographical examples which can be included in the submission. The following spring easily to mind:

looking at the weather / clouds / and the changes which can be recorded
map reading in a variety of ways including orienteering. Journey sticks can also record human and physical environmental features along a route
photos of specific places in the wooded area – can these be linked to a map?
recognising the changing seasons through temperature / state of the trees / signs of plants etc / short or longer daylight hours
micro-climates, there can be several examples of these even in a small area
looking at biomes – probably a temperate forest biome which can be compared with others around the world.

Food, fashion and flags

Some schools will organise a day or a week devoted to looking at other countries around the world through activities such as an international day where children and parents are encouraged to bring their traditional food and dress in their traditional clothes.

Sometimes these have been initiated by a desire to look at places where children have relatives or previously might have lived. This can help significantly towards developing a good relationship with the local community and help to give children a sense of identity and a positive sense of pride in their own family origins.

However, to find the geography it is important that these are incorporated into wider learning about the countries portrayed otherwise they remain linked to art, music or cooking and are not really developing a deeper geographical understanding about places.

A national flag is typically designed with specific meanings for its colours and symbols. Flags are often seen in a sports game, or used to represent a nation, for example in the Olympics. They can be seen celebrating a national day or holiday or an important event such as a coronation. In Britain the Royal Standard or flag is flown over buildings such as Buckingham Palace to show that the king or queen is in residence.

Perhaps one of the most famous national flags ever hoisted is the American flag planted on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission on 20 July 1969. Sadly, the astronauts described the flag being flag knocked over by the exhaust from the Lunar Module’s take-off. For young children flags can be an interesting stimulus or starting point to looking more deeply into a particular place and its various features.

How can these interesting aspects encourage geography?

Traditions seen in the form of clothes, food, music etc can provide us with clues about the history, geography and culture of a nation. What can we learn from these traditions? What’s the story behind them?

Clothing will often tell us much about the climate and the physical environment. There is a quirky story about why ladies in Peru appear to wear bowler hats. Local lore has it that these hats were sent out from Europe to the railway workers there but on arrival were found to be too small. The mistake turned into good fortune as the workers sold them to the local women and convinced them it was the height of fashion in Europe to wear one!

Ask children to research information about a particular country and make a presentation. Make sure they use maps so everyone can locate the country.
Make a link with a school in another country. This allows children to learn something about daily life which can seem very similar to their own in many cases. Children in many countries have to do their homework or help in the house after school.
Use Google Earth to locate places including the school and its surroundings. Videos can also show what a place is like, and children find visual evidence helpful in establishing a clearer understanding about a place.
Ask a parent / teacher a/ other adult to talk to children about living in another country. This has the potential to personalise information and describe life in the real world. Children will be curious to know all sort of things about life there. Astronauts say that the most frequent question they are asked is how they used the toilet!
Try to ensure that children are offered a balanced view about life in other countries. Whilst there are people living in poverty in places around the world, skyscrapers and IT companies are found in nearly every city in the world.

Festivals

These can range from small and local to huge national events, all of which can celebrate a range of traditions, people and activities. Again, these can provide a valuable starting point for looking at a place in more detail and finding out more about life there.

Festivals around the world can be based on religious events, the seasons, harvests, the sea and a host of other reasons. They help bring people together to celebrate those things which contribute to their society and their culture.

Chinese New Year is probably one that you celebrate in your school – just remember to encourage children to learn more about the country where it all started. Festivals also have a part to play in tourism and are often of significant economic importance to a country.

And finally – cheese rolling in Gloucestershire (look it up!), first footing in Newcastle or Bonfire Nights are just some of the quirky activities to be found in the UK. Looking at activities nearer to home will help to establish a balanced understanding that every place has its own customs and traditions, and these are not just found in faraway places.

Written by Paula Richardson

Paula Richardson is an author, education adviser and trustee of the GA, member of the Publications Board and Fieldwork and Outdoor Learning SIG ( FOLSIG).