Here’s a fun way for the whole family to learn about United States Geography. Go to the 50 States game at Addicting Games. You will see an outline of the U.S. with outlines for Alaska and Hawaii below. One state shape is at the top, along with its name. . Each time you play, it’s a little different because the states are offered in random order. Click on the state and drag it, placing it on the map as close as possible to where you think it goes.
If you are correct the shapes stays where you dropped it. If you are incorrect, the game shows you a red shape where the state belongs. You drag your misplaced state to the red area to continue. On each turn the game tells you many correct placements out of 51 that you have made. The game is 51 turns long because it also includes placing Washington D.C. correctly. The game also tells you have many turns you have left. And if you have misplaced the state it tells you how many miles you were off by your placement, and the average error number of miles from your other placements.
Once you complete placing the 50 states and D.C., the game gives a score, tells you how fast your time was, how many placements you got perfect, and the average number of miles you were off for all your placements.
As I said, it’s a different game each time. It’s much harder to place a middle of the country state like Iowa, than Florida. This is a really fun game to play with children. I like to point out what states they’ve visited, and where they have relatives. As a plus, the game only takes a few minutes so it’s easy for everyone to have a turn. Or, if your children are too young to care what a state is, it’s fun to challenge yourself to get a better score each time.
What a fun way to learn some geography! I wish they had a world version.
Also See:
A Few of My Favorite Things: Geography
All You Need to Teach Your Child about US Geography