Play a Mystery Location Game

Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?

As kids search for Carmen based on your clues, they learn more about geography and build map reading skills.

Activity Instructions

Carmen Sandiego’s capers take her to places all over the world, both distant and nearby. Give your kids geographic clues about where she “is” in the world and let them use maps and other resources to figure it out.

Estimated Time: 15–20 minutes

Materials Needed: Print or digital geography textbooks, atlases, almanacs, world maps, etc.

1. Give kids reference materials like world maps and atlases. Explain that they will use them to figure out where in the world Carmen “is” by the clues you give them.
2. Example: “Carmen is in a country in Asia. It’s located between the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It’s the world’s largest island country, with more than 13,000 islands. The capital is Jakarta.” Keep giving clues until someone figures out the answer.
3. Select more countries and repeat! Write more questions if you want to continue the journey.

LOCATION CLUES

• Australia – “Carmen is in the Southern Hemisphere. She’s in a country that is also a continent. It’s divided into six states and two territories. The capital is Canberra.”
• Andes – “Carmen is in the Western Hemisphere, hiking in the longest continental mountain range in the world. This mountain range stretches from Venezuela to Argentina. Cities like Quito and La Paz are located in these mountains.”
• Nile – “Carmen is sailing on a river in Africa. She just left Khartoum, and now she’s headed north to the Mediterranean Sea. She’ll have to stop when she
• gets to the Aswan Dam and go around it to continue her journey.”
• Dublin – “Carmen is in a city in Europe. It’s the capital of an island country whose nickname is the Emerald Isle. To the east lies the island of Great Britain.”