The Best Games to Teach Geography

Geography doesn’t have to be boring or a tough subject. A lot of geography can be learned through something as simple as regular game time! After years of trial and error, here’s our list of the best games to teach geography. You’ll find wonderful options to make learning geography a blast for the entire family.

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Games to Teach U.S. Geography

Games To Help Children Know the States

Scrambled States of America is a fast-paced card game. It helps children learn the geography, capitals, and nicknames of the 50 states through simple and fun challenge cards. The silliness draws kids in beautifully.

Who can travel by train to the most cities in seven days to win a million-dollar prize? In Ticket to Ride, the goal is to claim railroad routes that are as long as possible and make connections to fulfill destination tickets. This game takes a little longer than most to play and isn’t for children younger than 3rd grade. It’s a fun way to experience North America circa 1900!

United States Geography Bingo is unique because each player collects chips for a particular region of the U.S. Focusing on fewer states regionally is a great way to help children learn where states are within a region.

10 Days in the USA mixes strategy and luck in a race to plan a 10-day trip through the United States. It’s easy enough for 3rd graders to play but challenging enough that adults don’t get bored. This is one of our favorite geography games (along with its world geography counterparts found below). It’s currently out of print, but you may be able to snag one on eBay or other resale sites.

United States Trivia Games

Geography of the United States is a set of trivia, true/false, and multiple choice cards that help children learn fun facts about geography across the United States. Professor Noggin’s card games come in all subjects and are perfect for eager learners. There’s even an edition to learn about Countries of the World.

Bingo is always a hit. USA GeoBingo includes a little twist on the typical game. The caller’s cards include a picture of a state’s shape, name, nickname, population, area, surrounding states, or bodies of water. Choose what to call out from the card based on a student’s knowledge or skill to practice. Each player must try to find the appropriate state on the bingo card based on what it is called.

We’ve had Game of the States for several years. It looks like the newer version includes a STEM component that makes it even better than our game. There are a few ways to play – a simple trivia game, a buy/sell game, and a junior version for 6 and 7-year-olds. The version we like best requires trucks to move across the U.S. to buy and sell goods to make more money than the other players. I love the math and economics components included!

United States Capitals Game

Learn the capitals of all 50 states with the Sequence States and Capitals board game. The strategic simplicity keeps everyone in the family excited to play. In this version, states and capitals are memorized almost seamlessly as players race to place five chips on the game board in a row. It’s not quite as easy as it sounds!

Bonus Hands-On U.S. Geography Ideas

BONUS #1: The U.S.A. and Canada GeoPuzzle isn’t technically a game, but it’s helpful for learning geography. The puzzles include individual pieces shaped like the various states and provinces. (Learn countries if you work with the other world geography puzzles).

BONUS #2: The License Plate Game is fun for a long car trip. It’s a magnetized map of the U.S.A. that includes a cute little license plate magnet for each state. The license plate pieces are placed by the state on the map. As children see cars during travels, magnet pieces are flipped. Children can play independently or with a partner.

Best Games to Teach World Geography

Games to Help Children Know Countries

As with 10 Days in the U.S.A. (above), these games are out of print, so prices may reflect that. However, the 10 Days in… Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe are gems for teaching world geography. Keep them on a watchlist when visiting resale sites and stores.

Who will be the first to collect the most countries from each continent in this Continent Race game? It’s a fun way to quiz geography without forcing long memorization lists!

If you enjoy the North American Ticket to Ride (mentioned above), there are Ticket to Ride games for other areas of the world that can be used singularly or as companions to other game sets.

Quick Pix Geography is a fast-paced card game that helps children easily learn which countries reside on which continents. It can be played in about 10 minutes, making it great for morning-time geography practice.

World Geography Trivia and History Games

Guess in 10 games teach trivia facts quickly with a brain training component. Countries the World is no exception. Players can ask 10 questions to deduce which country is on a game card.

The Word Teasers Geography Edition is a great way to learn (and remember) trivia facts from around the world. Find geography questions that focus on world history, languages, and other fun ways to think about the locations of various countries.

Enjoy some strategy when Trekking the World. While this game might seem intimidating at first, it’s easier to learn than it looks. Not only will your family learn world geography, but culture and history are included, too!

Learn Landmarks of the World

Who Knows Where? is another guessing game that helps kids locate famous places worldwide. Become familiar with landmarks, tourist attractions, famous events, and big cities and capitals worldwide.

The World Game is another option to help children learn about famous landmarks, capitals, and even flags around the world. The game cards can double as flashcards for population, area, neighboring countries, and other fun facts.

Games To Learn Flags of the World

The Flags of the World card game has four versions for children as young as six. In one version, draw flag cards from the pile and attempt to guess which country they belong to. Players match flags with countries and recognize factual clues about countries and capital cities in more difficult versions. This game is especially good to play during the Olympics.

Bonus Hands-On World Geography Ideas

BONUS: The Global Puzzle isn’t just any puzzle. It includes individual pieces shaped like each country, state, or province. The 600 pieces are perfectly challenging for children in 3rd grade and older. Heck, it’s challenging for adults. The experience is great for general world geography practice!

What are the best games to teach geography in your house?

Incorporating games into your school day makes learning fun and creates an eagerness to learn with surprisingly little effort! I have loved gameschooling for years and will continue to make it a regular part of our schedule for years to come. I hope you do, too!

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