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When I was in school I hated geography lessons, I actively avoided taking it in high school because I didnโt want to spend the year memorizing names of places. Then I had a high school history teacher who taught me the importance of geography, and now I emphasize this with our gameschooling with some great geography board games.
(there are affiliate links in here)
History, like house-hunting, is all about location, location, location. Towards that end, you want to learn where things are, but I donโt want to memorize lists of words.
Enter the geography games. Hereโs my list of benefits of geography games:
- They reinforce the visual aspect of geography.
- Itโs not an endless drill and kill of a list of names you likely wonโt use again.
- They help to emphasize how interconnected we all are.
- They show where things are much more effectively than looking at a map.
- They help you learn what can be a very boring subject.
One thing I wish I had done was look a little more into the best geography apps, because I think those might have also gotten a fair amount of use.
United States Geography Games
I am listing these first for no other reason than I live in the United States, so am more familiar with these games.
- Transamerica– I LOVE this game, youโll see it again for my history post as well. This really helps you to grasp a general idea of where cities are, and perfectly explains our train system. There are several other train games that cover geography that I will cover in tomorrowโs post, but I wanted to bring this one up (mainly because I own this one).
- Scrambled States of America– We just got this game, and have only played it once. To really play it well you need to be able to read, beyond that, itโs a fun trivia game where most of the information you need is on the cards youโre trying to play. Itโs loosely based on the book of the same name.
- Secret State Password– I love the idea of drawing the state out of the jar and matching it with a map.
- DestiNation USA– This is one of my kidsโ favorite games, but I just havenโt gotten around to writing about it yet. You are traveling around the United States trying to get the most points. You earn points by either driving to different states or visiting the big attraction first. We enjoyed that you can drive to different states not just by having its name, but also by having matching colors (though that is less effective).
World Geography Games
I am going to add one more thing in
- Global Twister– In her post, she suggested making your own giant map, but you could just as easily grab one of those shower curtains with a map on it.
- Ticket to Ride- Most people consider this the quintessential traveling and train game. After we bought a different train game and were horribly burned I havenโt been able to convince Jeff to try it yet. Part of what makes this one so great is that there are several different versions for almost every major continent, so it can help your child increase their geography, but it requires reading abilities.
- Geography puzzles– this is the most common version we used
- Cardline Globetrotters– I almost forgot to include this game, but I love it
Geography Games that teach concepts
Some geography concepts are hard to teach with games based in our world, so here are some games that teach concepts needed to understand geography
- Rivers, Roads, and Rails– We need transportation, and this game explains ideas of how we use transportation.
- Settlers of Catan– The importance of managing resources for exploring the world. It also explains why certain areas of our world are more populated. You are more likely to move to a place that has better odds of survival.
- Carcassone– This is another great game for teaching management of resources. It also lets your kids see the interaction between towns and farmers and roads, how is it all connected.
For more game ideas to play with your family, check out my pinterest board:
Here’s my overall plan for this series:
- Day 1: benefits of using games in school, and links of other reasons to play
- Day 2: Active Games/Outdoor Games
- Day 3: Preschool Games
- Day 4: Reading Games
- Day 5: Math Games
- Day 6: Geography Games- you are here
- Day 7: History Games
- Day 8: Science Games
- Day 9: Travel Games
- Day 10: Solo or Two-Player Games
Originally published April 24, 2013
Comments
15 responses to “Geography games”
I was exactly the same way in high school – that’s actually why I started my Exploring Geography series!
You know, for some reason that doesn’t really surprise me ๐
Ooooh, We actually play a geography game, not one you’ve mentioned though! It’s called Atlas Adventures and we love it!
Ooohhhhh, I haven’t heard of that one. I’ll check into it.
Hello, I saw your pin on Pinterest and I would love to share it with our group. A friend and I run a postcard exchange group on Facebook called 50statepostcards. We wanted to get kids interested in geograpy (parents too for the same reasons you mentioned) and this works! It is all volunteer run, no fees of any kind. The kids are having a blast and learning a ton! We have done giveaways from Knowledge Quest and Little Passports. Will you tell your readers about 50statepostcards? Also there is an international postcard exchange called postcrossing.com. It is also free, lots of fun too. We have postcards from 10 countries so far. Thanks for sharing yojr collection of games ๐
The kids and I did a postcard exchange a few years ago and it was really fun. We did postcrossing for a short time, but I’m so horrid at getting out postcards on a timely basis.
It did not look like your website was correct when you filled it out, so if you send it to me I’ll make sure to include it in a resource somewhere ๐
We love Ticket to Ride (we have all of them). We also love the 10 Days games…10 Days in Africa, 10 Days in Asia, you get the idea. I love this post and the other game posts, I look forward to the rest of them!
Thanks! The Ticket to Ride and the 10 Days games are on my to get list. It’s been good for me to write this series because it’s helping me organize my thoughts and my games better. Tomorrow I tackle travel games!
Thanks for the link, Ticia! Maps and geography run in the family genes over here… My dad is a cartographer (map maker) and my mom has her degree in geography. ๐
I’m going to check out these games, since we love both games and geography. My boys are obsessed with Ticket to Ride. We have the USA and Europe edition. I would love to get the India version…
That’s definitely in the family ๐ I always loved looking at old maps, but how geography was taught in high school…. shudder……
Thanks for sharing my game posts. You’ve introduced me to some new ones I’ll have to check out!
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