Tool: Online map maker

When you think of world maps, you might think of a history teacher, but generally not a music teacher. But it does come in handy!

As a music teacher, part of what we can do is introduce musical instruments to students. Recently another music educator made a really cool lesson about castanets and so I asked if I could use her self-made castanets for Kindergarten students. When introducing the instrument to the students, it's good to mention where the instrument originated. And especially if they are younger students, having visuals is important.

So instead of only saying Spain, I wanted a visual map of Spain. But not just a map of Spain, a map of Europe with both Spain and Austria highlighted so that the students see where they are in relation to Spain. (I live in Austria.) So how can I get a map this specific?

https://www.mapchart.net/europe.html

The website Mapchart was exactly what I needed. I could pick the map I wanted and then select any country that I wanted and color it any way I wanted. Here is a picture of the site in action.


I'm sure if I took more time, I could have found even more ways to customize a map, but I kept it simple. The site provides very easy instructions to download, but I just stuck with my Windows + Shift + S to take a screen shot and paste it (Ctrl+ V) directly into my Word document. To add the country titles, I used Word itself and this is the finished product.

It is exactly what I needed! If you are introducing a composer, song, instrument, or historical event, maybe Mapchart can help you too.

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