Key Stage 1 geography · Geographical skills and fieldwork

KS1 making a simple map and using a key: a guide

In Years 1 and 2 children move from reading maps to making them. They devise a simple map of a familiar place, such as a classroom, a playground or a story setting, and they use and construct basic symbols in a key. They also use simple compass directions and words like near, far, left and right to describe where features and routes are. Making a map is one of the best ways to understand how maps work.

Simple maps, symbols and keys, explained

A map is a drawing of a place as it would look from above, showing chosen features in the right positions. Because it is a view from above, a tree becomes a circle and a building becomes a shape rather than a picture of a front door. Many schools start with imagined places, such as a pirate island or the route in a story, and then draw real, familiar ones: the classroom, the school grounds, a park or their own street.

A symbol is a simple picture, shape or colour that stands for something real. A key, sometimes called a legend, is the small box that lists each symbol and says what it means. Children use two kinds of symbol. Picture symbols look like the thing they stand for, such as a small tree. Abstract symbols are plain shapes or colours, such as a blue patch for water. Constructing their own symbols is part of the Key Stage 1 curriculum, and it comes with a few rules: one symbol always means one thing, the symbols must be quick to draw again and again, and every symbol on the map must appear in the key.

Position matters more than neatness. Features should be placed where they really are in relation to each other, so if the bench is beside the path and the pond is in the far corner, that is how they appear on the map. Children add labels, a title and a north arrow so a reader can tell which way the map faces. They use direction words, such as “the pond is north of the playground”, as well as near, far, next to and between. At this age children are not expected to draw maps to scale, use grid references or measure distances. Those skills come in Key Stage 2.

A common approach in class goes like this. The class looks at an aerial photograph or walks round a real place and lists its features. They choose symbols together, draw a first version, add the key and then test it by passing it to a partner. If the partner cannot find a feature or reads a symbol wrongly, the mapmaker improves it. That test is the real learning, because it shows why clear symbols and a complete key matter.

Words your child will hear

Map: A drawing of a place seen from above, showing where things are.
Symbol: A simple picture, shape or colour that stands for a real feature.
Key: A list on a map showing what each symbol means. Also called a legend.
Title: The name of the map, which says what it shows.
Label: A word written beside a feature on a map to name it.
North arrow: A small arrow on a map showing which way is north.
Route: The path you take from one place to another.

What the National Curriculum says

In Key Stage 1, pupils should be taught to:

Use aerial photographs and plan perspectives to recognise landmarks and basic human and physical features; devise a simple map; and use and construct basic symbols in a key
Use simple compass directions (north, south, east and west) and locational and directional language [for example, near and far, left and right], to describe the location of features and routes on a map

Objectives from the National Curriculum in England, © Crown copyright, used under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Try it: a map of the park

Make a simple map of a small park. It has a gate, a pond, three trees, a play area, a bench and a path from the gate to the play area. Include a key.

List the features and imagine them from above. Remember that a map shows what you would see looking straight down, so draw shapes rather than side views.
Choose a simple symbol for each feature. For example: a blue oval for the pond, a green circle for a tree, an orange square for the play area, a short brown line for the bench, a dotted line for the path and a black rectangle for the gate.
Draw the edge of the park. Put the gate on the bottom edge and draw the path running up from it to the play area in the middle. Put the pond in the top left corner, the bench beside the path and the three trees along the right-hand side.
Make the key. Draw each symbol in a small box with a word beside it. Check that each tree uses exactly the same green circle and that every symbol on the map appears in the key.
Add a title, such as “Our Local Park”, and a north arrow pointing to the top of the page. Describe the map in words: the play area is north of the gate, the pond is near the top, far from the gate, and the trees are on the east side. Give the map to someone else and ask them to find the bench. If they get stuck, fix the unclear part.

A finished map with a title and north arrow, the six features in the right places, a sentence or two describing where they are, and a key that reads: blue oval = pond, green circle = tree, orange square = play area, brown line = bench, dotted line = path, black rectangle = gate.

Common mistakes and how to help

Drawing buildings and trees side-on, as little pictures

Young children draw what they know things look like from the front, and the side view is how they usually see the world.

What helps: Look down on a model or the garden from above first, or use an aerial photograph. Ask what you would see if you were a bird, and draw only that.

Leaving out the key, or using one symbol for different things

The child knows what they meant, so it feels obvious to everyone else too.

What helps: Give the map to someone who has not seen it and watch what they make of it. Then discuss: one symbol, one meaning, and every symbol in the key.

Trying to include absolutely everything, so the map becomes unreadable

Children want to show every leaf and every toy, and may not realise that maps are selective.

What helps: Decide the map’s purpose first, such as finding the way to the swings. Then choose five or six features that matter and leave out the rest.

Placing features where they look nice rather than where they really are

A tidy drawing feels like a good one, and relative position is a new idea.

What helps: Walk the route or look at the real place, saying what is next to what. Check each item with “Is the pond really beside the path?” and use words such as near, far and between.

How to help at home

Map of a bedroom or garden. Ask your child to draw a plan of a room or a garden from above, showing where things are. Invent symbols for the bed, door, table and plant pots, and write a key.
Treasure map. Hide a small prize and have your child draw a map to it, with a key and a north arrow. Another family member follows it. If they get lost, work out together which part was unclear.
Map a short walk. After a local walk with an adult, draw a map of the route with symbols for the places you passed, such as a post box, a shop or a park. Use words such as left, right, near and far when you describe it.
Compare real symbols. Look at a leaflet, park plan or road map and find its key. Ask your child to work out what three or four symbols mean and think about why the mapmaker chose them.

Leads on to

Key Stage 2: Atlases, globes and digital maps
Key Stage 2: Compass points and grid references
Key Stage 2: Ordnance Survey map symbols
Key Stage 2: Fieldwork: observe and measure
Key Stage 2: Fieldwork: presenting findings