Following a simple map
Geography · Early Years · The School
Looking down
A MAP shows a place as if you were a bird looking straight down at it. A table from above is just a rectangle. A cup from above is a circle. Drawing your own bedroom or classroom from above is the first step in map-making, and it feels strange until you try it.
Following a route
On a picture map you can trace a route with your finger: start at the door, go past the sandpit, turn at the tree, and stop at the gate. Saying it out loud as you go turns the map into directions, and directions are what maps are for.
Words for where
Maps need position words. NEXT TO, BEHIND, IN FRONT OF, NEAR, FAR, BETWEEN, UNDER, OVER. Saying "the tree is next to the gate" tells someone where to look. Without those words, a map is just a picture.
Draw a simple map of a room with north at the top and a route marked from the door to a chair. Stand at the door facing the chair and walk it — the map matches. Now walk it BACKWARDS from the chair to the door, holding the map the same way up: every left turn is now a right turn and it feels wrong. Turn the map round so it faces the way you do, and the route matches again.