What Is a Landmark? A Simple Guide for KS1 and KS2 Children

Children often hear the word landmark when they are learning about geography, history, famous places, or their local area. They might hear about the Eiffel Tower, the Grand Canyon, a town hall, or even a bridge near home and wonder what makes that place a landmark in the first place.

A simple answer is that a landmark is a place or structure that people notice, remember, or use to help identify an area. Some landmarks are famous around the world, while others are important mainly to the people who live nearby. Both can matter, and both can help children understand more about the world around them.

This guide explains what landmarks are, why they matter, and how to help children spot them with confidence.

What is a landmark?

A landmark is a place, feature, or structure that stands out in some way. People may recognise it because it looks unusual, has an important story, helps them find their way, or means something special to a community.

That means a landmark does not have to be a huge tourist attraction. A landmark can be world-famous, but it can also be something closer to home, such as a statue in a town square, a well-known hill, an old bridge, or a building that people use as a meeting point.

For children, this is a helpful idea because it shows that landmarks are not only about famous travel destinations. They are also about noticing meaningful places and asking why they matter.

What makes a place a landmark?

A place usually becomes a landmark because it stands out for one or more reasons.

• It is easy to recognise
• It helps people remember or identify an area
• It has historical, cultural, or natural importance
• It is linked to a community or a shared story
• It is often used as a point of reference when giving directions or describing a place

Children often understand this best through examples. A tall tower stands out because of how it looks. A waterfall stands out because it is a striking natural feature. A war memorial stands out because it carries meaning for a community. A station, bridge, or old market building may become a landmark because many people know it and use it as a reference point.

So when a child asks, “Is this a landmark?”, a useful next question is, “What makes this place special, memorable, or important?”

Different types of landmarks

Landmarks can be grouped in different ways, which helps children see that the idea is broader than one kind of famous place.

Famous landmarks

These are the places many children already know by name. They may have seen them in books, films, travel pictures, or school topics. Famous landmarks often become well known because of their appearance, their history, or the role they play in a city or wider area.

Examples might include great towers, monuments, temples, statues, castles, or historic ruins. Children are often drawn to these first because they feel exciting and easy to picture. Parents who want a broader route through this side of the topic can explore Landmarks of the World for Kids: Easy Ways to Explore Famous Places.

Natural landmarks

Not all landmarks are built by people. Some are natural features such as mountains, cliffs, waterfalls, canyons, rock formations, or large lakes. These places may stand out because of their size, shape, beauty, or importance in the landscape.

Natural landmarks are especially useful for linking geography with science, because children can start asking how a place was formed and why it looks the way it does. If that is the route your child responds to best, Natural Landmarks for Kids: Mountains, Waterfalls and Other Wonders takes the topic further.

Man-made landmarks

Many landmarks are built by people. These might include bridges, towers, churches, memorials, stadiums, palaces, tunnels, or public buildings. Children often enjoy these because they lead naturally to questions about design, materials, construction, and history.

This can be a good route for children who are especially interested in engineering, architecture, or how things work. For a closer look at that side of the topic, read Man-Made Landmarks for Kids: Monuments, Bridges and Buildings Explained.

Local landmarks

Some landmarks matter most to a local population rather than to the whole world. A library, a lighthouse, a statue, a hill, a harbour, or a community building can all be landmarks if people in that area know them, use them, or connect them with local identity.

This matters because it helps children realise that landmark learning can begin close to home. They do not need to start with the most famous site in the world. They can begin by noticing the places their own community values. For a more practical parent-focused route into that idea, see Local Landmarks for Kids: How to Help Children Notice Important Places Close to Home.

Why landmarks matter for children

Landmarks are useful because they help children connect ideas that might otherwise feel separate. One place can open the door to geography, history, culture, community, design, or nature all at once.

They also give children something concrete to think about. Instead of learning only abstract ideas about places or the wider world, they can focus on a real mountain, a recognisable building, or a familiar local feature and build understanding from there.

Landmarks can help children:

• develop a stronger sense of place
• build early map awareness
• notice the difference between natural and human-made features
• ask better questions about history and community
• remember information more easily through strong visual examples

For many primary-aged children, landmarks are one of the easiest ways into wider learning because the topic feels visible, memorable, and connected to real life.

How to explain landmarks simply to children

If you are explaining landmarks to a child, it often helps to keep the definition short at first. You might say:

A landmark is a place or structure that people recognise and remember.

After that, you can build understanding with simple follow-up questions:

• Is it natural or built by people?
• Why do people know it?
• What makes it stand out?
• Where is it?
• Does it matter to lots of people, or mainly to one community?

This makes the idea easier to explore than giving a long formal definition all at once.

How children can spot a landmark

Children do not have to memorise a strict checklist. Instead, they can learn to notice clues.

A place may be a landmark if it:

• is easy to recognise
• is well known in a local area, city, or country
• has a special story behind it
• appears on maps, signs, postcards, or school topics
• helps people describe where something is

This is a good way to make the topic practical. A child can look at pictures, think about places they know, or talk about journeys they make and begin to identify landmarks for themselves.

Landmarks can be famous or familiar

One of the most useful things children can learn is that landmarks are not all the same. Some are globally famous. Some are important because they are part of everyday life in one local place. Both count, and both are worth noticing.

That wider understanding can make the topic feel much more meaningful. It shows children that learning about landmarks is not only about distant tourist sites. It is also about understanding the places people value, remember, and use to make sense of the world.

Helping your child explore landmarks on Knowva

Once your child understands the basic idea, they can explore different kinds of landmarks in more detail. The Landmarks for Kids hub is the best place to begin if you want a broader overview.

If your child is ready for the next step, you can build on this introduction in different ways. Landmark Facts for Kids: What Children Should Notice About a Famous Place is helpful for children who need a simple framework for reading about any landmark. Landmarks of the World for Kids: Easy Ways to Explore Famous Places is a good next step for families exploring famous places more broadly.

Parents can also follow the route that best matches a child’s interest. Man-Made Landmarks for Kids: Monuments, Bridges and Buildings Explained suits children who enjoy structures and engineering, while Natural Landmarks for Kids: Mountains, Waterfalls and Other Wonders offers a clearer route into landscapes and Earth features. For a more everyday starting point, Local Landmarks for Kids: How to Help Children Notice Important Places Close to Home helps families begin with places they already know.

The aim is not to rush through lots of examples. It is to help your child understand what makes a place memorable and why landmarks can tell us so much about people, places, and the world around us.