Top 10 Games and Activities for Teaching Geography
My kids love geography! They are always looking at our world and states map, asking about countries and states, and watching travel videos. They love reading books about new places and pick a country or state to study each year for our homeschool geography fair.
But as much as they love learning about geography there's just something about games and hands on activities that make it even more fun and exciting. Over the years we've found quite a few family favorites and I find that even as my oldest approaches 7th grade these games are ones that we can all play together and still learn something new.
1. GeoDice-- Is a great and fun game to play. The board has two different sides to it so there are a variety of ways to play. Playing helps learn countries and capitals all over the world.
2. Scrambled States of America-- If you read my blog regularly you already know that we play this game a lot! It is a really fun way learn about the 50 states and so many unusual fun facts about them.
3. BrainBox-- There are many editions to the Brainbox games and we have The World edition. This fun and simple game requires concentration, memorization, and attention to detail. Each player gets a country card to study for a few minutes seconds, then they roll the dice and try to answer the question. Questions range from the capital city of a country to what color shirt was the man wearing? It's a fun and engaging way to learn a bit about the countries as famous landmarks, people, cities and facts are depicted in the pictures.
4. GeoBingo-- Is a relatively new addition to our geography games but we just love it. We have the world edition but plan to buy the United States edition soon. Played like traditional bingo you have to be the first to cover up five of your countries in a row. The 50 country cards are chuck full of information and yet this game is simple enough for preschoolers to play so it's great for the whole family.
5. Stack the States-- This is our all time favorite app. By answering trivia questions about the states you earn states to stack and when your stack reaches the line (without falling over) you are awarded a new state. The graphics are fun and there is a second game mode where you can try to place all 50 states on a blank United States map; but be careful, three mistakes and the game is over. I don't usually pay for apps but I had heard so much about this one I decided to splurge and really it is wonderful; I even play it just for fun and have learned a lot!
6. American Trivia-- I was actually surprised that my kids enjoyed this game so much; I thought it was quite difficult. My middle school son just loves it though and so we'll often play just him and I. There are colored men and they each have to follow their path through the United States; be the first to reach the end of your path and you win! Question categories include geography, history, art, and general questions which cover just about anything else having to do with the United States.
7. Trivia Crack-- My son enjoyed playing this app on his Kindle so much we bought the board game and now we can all play. Learning more than just geography this game requires you to be the first player to collect coins/ figures from each of the categories-- science, geography, entertainment, sports, art, and history. It's a fun way to hone up on facts; including geography facts.
8. Puzzles-- Puzzles are a great way to learn about geography! We have a variety of world puzzle maps, united states puzzle maps, and picture maps of places. We have street scenes in Paris, puzzles of the African Savannah, puzzles of the New York Skyline, etc. My kids enjoy puzzles so these are great for us to work on together and talk about all that we see. If they have questions we turn to books to find our answers and start a whole new unit for learning.
These last two are on our wishlist but I just could not help but share them; they sound so fun!
9. Flags of the World-- A fun game to learn about the flags, capitals, and countries of the world. I figured with every review being 4 & 5 stars this must be a good one to play!
10. 10 Days in the USA-- This game uses a United States map as it's board and you want to be the first player to make their way to their destination using the various transportation tiles. There are other editions available including 10 Days in Africa and 10 Days in Europe.
But as much as they love learning about geography there's just something about games and hands on activities that make it even more fun and exciting. Over the years we've found quite a few family favorites and I find that even as my oldest approaches 7th grade these games are ones that we can all play together and still learn something new.
Here are our top 10 pick for Geography Games and Activities:
1. GeoDice-- Is a great and fun game to play. The board has two different sides to it so there are a variety of ways to play. Playing helps learn countries and capitals all over the world.
2. Scrambled States of America-- If you read my blog regularly you already know that we play this game a lot! It is a really fun way learn about the 50 states and so many unusual fun facts about them.
3. BrainBox-- There are many editions to the Brainbox games and we have The World edition. This fun and simple game requires concentration, memorization, and attention to detail. Each player gets a country card to study for a few minutes seconds, then they roll the dice and try to answer the question. Questions range from the capital city of a country to what color shirt was the man wearing? It's a fun and engaging way to learn a bit about the countries as famous landmarks, people, cities and facts are depicted in the pictures.
4. GeoBingo-- Is a relatively new addition to our geography games but we just love it. We have the world edition but plan to buy the United States edition soon. Played like traditional bingo you have to be the first to cover up five of your countries in a row. The 50 country cards are chuck full of information and yet this game is simple enough for preschoolers to play so it's great for the whole family.
5. Stack the States-- This is our all time favorite app. By answering trivia questions about the states you earn states to stack and when your stack reaches the line (without falling over) you are awarded a new state. The graphics are fun and there is a second game mode where you can try to place all 50 states on a blank United States map; but be careful, three mistakes and the game is over. I don't usually pay for apps but I had heard so much about this one I decided to splurge and really it is wonderful; I even play it just for fun and have learned a lot!
6. American Trivia-- I was actually surprised that my kids enjoyed this game so much; I thought it was quite difficult. My middle school son just loves it though and so we'll often play just him and I. There are colored men and they each have to follow their path through the United States; be the first to reach the end of your path and you win! Question categories include geography, history, art, and general questions which cover just about anything else having to do with the United States.
7. Trivia Crack-- My son enjoyed playing this app on his Kindle so much we bought the board game and now we can all play. Learning more than just geography this game requires you to be the first player to collect coins/ figures from each of the categories-- science, geography, entertainment, sports, art, and history. It's a fun way to hone up on facts; including geography facts.
8. Puzzles-- Puzzles are a great way to learn about geography! We have a variety of world puzzle maps, united states puzzle maps, and picture maps of places. We have street scenes in Paris, puzzles of the African Savannah, puzzles of the New York Skyline, etc. My kids enjoy puzzles so these are great for us to work on together and talk about all that we see. If they have questions we turn to books to find our answers and start a whole new unit for learning.
These last two are on our wishlist but I just could not help but share them; they sound so fun!
9. Flags of the World-- A fun game to learn about the flags, capitals, and countries of the world. I figured with every review being 4 & 5 stars this must be a good one to play!
10. 10 Days in the USA-- This game uses a United States map as it's board and you want to be the first player to make their way to their destination using the various transportation tiles. There are other editions available including 10 Days in Africa and 10 Days in Europe.
Great list! I am inspired,
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad.
DeleteSuch great games. So many people have no knowledge of geography. It's a great idea to teach this to your kids in such a fun way.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I really want my kids to at least have a basic understanding of where places are. Too often I find I am googling "where is...." because I don't have a great grasp of geography.
Delete