WonderMaps {Review}

My kids love maps.  They like looking at them and finding where we live or where a place is that we are learning about in school.  They love feeling the bumps on our globe where the mountains are.  They like finding rivers and lakes.  Maps make learning fun for them.  Many times I will try to find a certain map to go along with what we are studying, but have often found it challenging to find exactly what I need.  Thanks to WonderMaps, that is no longer an issue!  I can very quickly find a map customized to what we need. 

WonderMaps, from Bright Ideas Press, is a collection of 360 maps that can be customized to your project with a few easy steps.  It is a program that is installed on your PC and has 60+ maps of the world, 60+ maps of the US and 125 historical maps.  They can be customized to include any or all of the following: historical or modern-day maps, outline, reference, political, or topographical maps, black-and-white or color maps, and features including names, borders, rivers, cities, physical features, and graticules.  It also has complete map sets from The Mystery of History and All American History curriculums, so if you use either of those, this could be a big help to you!

I love how easy WonderMaps is too use.  The maps that we have already used, I have very quickly found within several clicks of the homepage.  And once I find what I want I love that I can easily make it color or black and white so my kids can color it, add names or leave them off to test my kids' knowledge, or even add or leave off borders to show how the map compares historically verses modern.  Here is a picture of a historical map of Revolutionary War battle sites with all possible options on:

 And here is the same map with the cities and modern state lines turned off and it only took two simple clicks:

There are even more features that I haven't explored yet, but I can tell that this will be so useful in the years to come for our homeschooling.  You can even register your product on Bright Ideas Press and you will receive updates when they are available!  Even if I purchase a new Atlas, it will probably be out of date very soon, so this is a great resource to have current information. 

Recently we studied Christopher Columbus and one of the maps was his voyages across the Atlantic.  It was so easy to find, print off, and have ready for the kids to look at while I read to them.

So far I haven't found anything that I don't like about WonderMaps, so I highly recommend it for all your map needs!

For more information or to purchase WonderMaps please visit Timberdoodle or Bright Ideas Press.  While you are there, be sure to check out some of their Hands On Geography or Geography Puzzles, or to request a free catalog.

As a member of Timberdoodle's Blogger Review Team I received a free copy of WonderMaps in exchange for a frank and unbiased review.