But does a three-year-old even understand the concept of a map?
Depends largely on the three year old, and also on the level of understanding in question. I"m not an expert on early childhood development, but my Mom has a master's in it, and has worked in the field most of my life. At one point, she was teaching Head Start (3-5 year olds) and had a great deal of difficulty trying to explain that cities are in counties are in states are in countries -- she'd try to explain "We live in the United States" and get "Noooo! We live in [TOWN]!". Your three year old, however, can and will vary.
no subject
Depends largely on the three year old, and also on the level of understanding in question. I"m not an expert on early childhood development, but my Mom has a master's in it, and has worked in the field most of my life. At one point, she was teaching Head Start (3-5 year olds) and had a great deal of difficulty trying to explain that cities are in counties are in states are in countries -- she'd try to explain "We live in the United States" and get "Noooo! We live in [TOWN]!". Your three year old, however, can and will vary.