Idaho Map Activity
A printable Idaho map worksheet: color the state, label Boise and its major cities, and draw in the rivers and higher ground.
5 questions · Map activity · Application
Idaho is one of the fifty states, and its capital is Boise. This sheet prints the outline of the state large enough to work on, with a star already marking the capital, and a small map of the whole country in the corner so a student can see where Idaho sits. The five tasks move from coloring the state in to placing its cities, rivers and mountains — the same order an atlas builds a map up in.
Idaho
Capital: Boise
Idaho Map Activity
This is a map of Idaho. Use the facts in the box and the star on the map to finish all five tasks.
Remember
- The capital of Idaho is Boise.
- Three of its largest cities are Idaho Falls, Pocatello and Coeur d'Alene.
- Rivers in Idaho include Snake River, Salmon River and Clearwater River.
- Its higher ground includes Rocky Mountains and Sawtooth Range.
Your tasks
Work down the list in order. Everything is done on the big map below.
- 1.
Color the whole state of Idaho lightly in one color, staying inside the outline.
- 2.
Find the star on the map. Write the name of the state capital on the line beside it.
- 3.
Mark and label these cities with a dot: Idaho Falls, Pocatello and Coeur d'Alene.
- 4.
Draw and label these rivers: Snake River and Salmon River.
- 5.
Shade where this higher ground is and label it: Rocky Mountains and Sawtooth Range.
★ marks Boise, the state capital. Write its name on the line.
Answer key
Your tasks
- 1.The whole outline is colored in, and the coloring stays inside the border.
- 2.Boise - the capital of Idaho. The star is printed where the city is.
- 3.Idaho Falls, Pocatello and Coeur d'Alene - each marked with a dot and labeled. Idaho Falls is the largest of them.
- 4.Snake River and Salmon River - drawn as a wiggly line and labeled.
- 5.Rocky Mountains and Sawtooth Range - shaded and labeled in roughly the right part of the state.
What this sheet teaches
- Find Idaho on a map of the United States.
- Name and locate Boise, the state capital.
- Locate Idaho Falls, Pocatello and Coeur d'Alene within the state.
- Draw the main rivers of Idaho and say roughly where they run.
Notes for the adult
- Colored pencils are enough — nothing on the Idaho sheet needs paint, and the outline is large enough that a fine tip is not required either.
- Task 2 is the one to check first: the star is printed exactly where Boise is, so a child who writes another city has read the map rather than the fact box.
- Idaho Falls and the Snake River are placed by eye. Mark them on whether they are in the right part of Idaho relative to Boise, not on whether they land within a mile of the truth.
What is on the page
Idaho Map Activity is in one part and comes to five exercises in total. Map work throughout — one kind of exercise, done five times, rather than a page that changes its demand halfway down.
Under "Your tasks" there are five tasks, all of them carried out on the printed outline of Idaho rather than answered in writing.
Idaho on this sheet
The star is printed on Boise, in the south-west of the state, at roughly 43.6°N, 116.2°W. Of the 50 state capitals this site has a map sheet for, that makes it the 10th furthest north and the 7th furthest west. The nearest other state capital is Helena, about 290 miles away in Montana — a useful thing to say out loud to a student who assumes every state is the size of their own.
The cities to mark are Idaho Falls, Pocatello and Coeur d'Alene. Three rivers go on next — Snake River, Salmon River and Clearwater River — drawn in by hand rather than traced. Higher ground is shaded last: Rocky Mountains and Sawtooth Range.
The outline of Idaho is about 1.6 times as tall as it is wide, which leaves narrow margins either side for city names. It is drawn from the same vector data as the map on this page, so what prints on paper is what is on the screen, and a photocopy of it holds up. Positions are estimated by eye: mark Idaho Falls on whether it is in the right part of Idaho, not on whether it lands within a mile of the truth.
What it asks of the student
Idaho Map Activity puts about 122 words of reading in front of the student — the fact box, the directions, every question, and every printed option. That is the number worth checking against a class before it goes out, because a sheet that is pitched right on the history and wrong on the reading fails for the same child either way. The longest single prompt on it runs to 18 words.
Nothing on Idaho Map Activity is answered on ruled lines — every response goes onto the map itself, or on the short rule beside a task — so the whole of it fits on one side of paper and the full answer key runs to 78 words.
Where this one sits
Idaho Map Activity is one of 61 US States & Capitals sheets on this site and one of 59 written for grade 4. 53 of them share its topic, the fifty states, which is worth knowing before printing two that overlap.
The closest things to it are Washington Map Activity (grade 4) and West Virginia Map Activity (grade 4). If Idaho Map Activity lands well, those are the ones to reach for next; if it lands badly, the application sheets a grade either side are usually the adjustment rather than a different topic altogether.
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The Fifty States at other grades
This sheet: Grade 4, 5 questions — map activity. The same topic is also written for:
- Recognizing the Fifty US States Worksheet — Grade 3 · 12 questions, matching, fill in the blank, multiple choice · application work
- Identifying the Fifty U.S. States — Grade 4 · 15 questions, matching, fill in the blank, multiple choice, short answer · application work
- Label the States on the Map — Grade 5 · 49 questions, map activity · application work