Virginia Map Activity
A printable Virginia map worksheet: color the state, label Richmond and its major cities, and draw in the rivers and higher ground.
5 questions · Map activity · Application
Virginia is one of the fifty states, and its capital is Richmond. 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 Virginia 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.
Virginia
Capital: Richmond
Virginia Map Activity
This is a map of Virginia. Use the facts in the box and the star on the map to finish all five tasks.
Remember
- The capital of Virginia is Richmond.
- Three of its largest cities are Virginia Beach, Norfolk and Arlington.
- Rivers in Virginia include James River, Potomac River and Shenandoah River.
- Its higher ground includes Blue Ridge Mountains and Appalachian Mountains.
Your tasks
Work down the list in order. Everything is done on the big map below.
- 1.
Color the whole state of Virginia 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: Virginia Beach, Norfolk and Arlington.
- 4.
Draw and label these rivers: James River and Potomac River.
- 5.
Shade where this higher ground is and label it: Blue Ridge Mountains and Appalachian Mountains.
★ marks Richmond, 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.Richmond - the capital of Virginia. The star is printed where the city is.
- 3.Virginia Beach, Norfolk and Arlington - each marked with a dot and labeled. Virginia Beach is the largest of them.
- 4.James River and Potomac River - drawn as a wiggly line and labeled.
- 5.Blue Ridge Mountains and Appalachian Mountains - shaded and labeled in roughly the right part of the state.
What this sheet teaches
- Find Virginia on a map of the United States.
- Name and locate Richmond, the state capital.
- Locate Virginia Beach, Norfolk and Arlington within the state.
- Draw the main rivers of Virginia and say roughly where they run.
Notes for the adult
- Colored pencils are enough — nothing on the Virginia 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 Richmond is, so a child who writes another city has read the map rather than the fact box.
- Virginia Beach and the James River are placed by eye. Mark them on whether they are in the right part of Virginia relative to Richmond, not on whether they land within a mile of the truth.
What is on the page
Virginia 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 Virginia rather than answered in writing.
Virginia on this sheet
The star is printed on Richmond, in the east of the state, at roughly 37.5°N, 77.4°W. Of the 50 state capitals this site has a map sheet for, that makes it the 36th furthest north and the 39th furthest west. The nearest other state capital is Annapolis, about 110 miles away in Maryland — 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 Virginia Beach, Norfolk and Arlington. Three rivers go on next — James River, Potomac River and Shenandoah River — drawn in by hand rather than traced. Higher ground is shaded last: Blue Ridge Mountains and Appalachian Mountains.
The outline of Virginia is about 1.5 times as wide as it is tall, so the widest labels are the ones that need planning before the pencil goes down. 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 Virginia Beach on whether it is in the right part of Virginia, not on whether it lands within a mile of the truth.
What it asks of the student
Virginia 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 Virginia 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
Virginia 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 Idaho Map Activity (grade 4) and Illinois Map Activity (grade 4). If Virginia 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.
More like this
Two-Letter State Abbreviations Practice Worksheet
Grade 8 worksheet on USPS two-letter state abbreviations, drilling easily confused pairs like MN/MS and AR/AZ through matching, analysis, and recall.
US States by Region
Grade 6 worksheet on US regions: students match, analyze, and explain which states belong to the Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Southwest, or West.
State Capitals — Matching and Analysis Worksheet
Drill state capitals with matching, multiple-choice, and short-answer questions focused on states whose largest city is not the capital.
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