From the printing press to our pockets, maps have been tools of navigation, exploration, and education for centuries. But now, children may revolutionize mapping for all! How? With their unique perspective! Listen to this quote.

​

“Our greatest period of geographical exploration is that found in each of us – in our childhood. All children have an urge to explore the landscape around them, to learn about it, to give order to it, and to invest it with meaning.”

​

These photos that you see here, are of me, as a young child, doing just this: exploring the world, and clearly, enjoying it. As I have grown up, I have found a deep love for maps and mapmaking as a way to make sense of the world and visually curate the beauty I find in it. Every child, though, freely sees the world in their own unique way, through young and imaginative eyes filled with innate creativity. This is the perspective that my research is born from, and what will be the next force driving the advancement of maps and mapmaking. Let me tell you how.

​

In the research world of mapmakers, it has been common to utilize maps to understand how children’s minds work so we can design better maps for them, but!, what we lack is how children can help US improve mapping, for all ages! Through this fresh and untapped perspective, this study will not only enable more engaging & user-friendly mapping practices, but provide a more holistic approach to map design and a deeper understanding of children’s psychology, with implications for their geographic education.

 

So, in order to understand what mapping is according to children, I have visually and statistically analyzed hundreds of hand-drawn mental maps, a few of which you can see here, made by children ages 6 to 14 who all journeyed through the same field trip.

​

What do they show us? Three things.

1. That maps are not just drawings. Although they often lack traditional map elements such as a legend key or scale bar, they clearly tell a successful, spatial story with intentional design.

2. They are inherently complex. They represent both the natural and the built environment, as well as shared and personal perceptions.

And 3. They are forms of expression! Children go over the top and have fun, as we can see in their wide design variations.

​

These results come from analyzing only about 300 maps, when we have 3,000 in total. So, I am only just getting started! I plan to dive deeper with my analysis, looking for age-related variations in map content and design, and children’s expressions of social, emotional, and environmental relationships.  

So, I invite you to join me in staying young at heart through children’s mapping as I continue to explore how children can improve and inspire spatial innovation, and how their unique perspective can help us understand mapping in a new light.