Places around the world
Grade 2 · Geography
Explore places, read maps and discover the world around you.
Choose a game
Take your time, try a game and collect stars.
UK cities: which country are they in?
Is Swansea in Wales or Scotland? Where is Armagh? A free Grade 2 geography game about cities in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Play UK cities: which country are they in?
Learning about places around the world
In this Grade 2 geography collection, you can practice UK cities: which country are they in?. Choose a game above for a short activity, or explore the examples below before you play. The full guide for each game explains its controls, gives more examples and includes a free printable for practice away from the screen.
Talk it through
Keep a globe, atlas or simple map nearby. Ask your child to point to a place or direction before naming it. Relate a map symbol or feature to a real example, and compare places rather than memorising isolated names.
Ask: “Where would you look to check your answer?” Give your child time to explain. Return to an example after playing and ask whether they would approach it differently.
UK cities: which country are they in?
Knowing a few cities in each country helps children build a mental map of the UK. Glasgow and Aberdeen are in Scotland, Swansea and Wrexham in Wales, Armagh and Newry in Northern Ireland, and Manchester, Birmingham and Bristol in England. Some cities are very small: St Davids in Wales has city status because of its cathedral, even though it is the size of a village.
Try an example: Which country of the UK is Swansea in?
Swansea is on the south coast, west of Cardiff.
Show the answer
Wales.
What to look out for
Thinking every big town is a city. City status is granted by the monarch. Some big towns (like Reading) are not cities, and some small places (like St Davids) are.
Practice away from the screen
- Look at where friends and family live and find their nearest city on a map.
Curriculum connections
UK cities: which country are they in?
Suggested grade 2 practice, selected by skill and reading demand. US states and schools teach these topics in different grades; this is not a state-standards alignment claim. This activity explores the United Kingdom as a world-geography topic; its questions are about UK places.
NCSS C3 Framework teaching connection: Geographic representations and places. Use place names, compass directions and physical features as background for reading maps and asking questions about places. Extend the game with a map or photograph; recognizing labels alone is not a complete geographic inquiry. Read the framework.
Questions families ask
Where should we start with places around the world?
Start with UK cities: which country are they in?. Look at the worked example together, then try a round. If the task feels unfamiliar, use the full game guide or its free printable before trying again.
Does this cover everything taught at this level?
No. These games provide focused practice. Grade suggestions do not replace your school’s curriculum, and any Common Core connection applies only to the skill described.