A staple of the upper elementary curriculum is teaching and learning the United States of America’s states and capitals.
By the time they leave elementary school, students are expected to be able to identify the states on a map and name their capital cities.
Although this is a general recall skill, it doesn’t mean it has to be boring or mundane.
Here are 8 ideas for more fun ways to practice states and capitals with upper elementary students.
8 Fun Ways to Practice States and Capitals
#1 | Interactive quizzes and games
As with most recall-based skills, it’s always fun to have some games on hand that both help students practice and review the skill they are working on.
Having a variety of games, or one game that can be played in many ways, is a great way to make practicing state and capital recognition more fun.
One activity that can be used in many ways is this States and Capitals U-KNOW game. U-KNOW is a fun, task-card-based game that can be used in association with many other games to practice skills.
We have written many posts talking about different ways to use U-KNOW decks. Check out some of our favorites below by clicking on the images!
#2 | Creative Projects
We are huge fans of creative projects, and with a topic like states and capitals, projects like posters, brochures, presentations, and even creating board games are great activities to use as practice.
#3 | Virtual Field Trips
When trying to help students learn about a different state or capital, take the time to help them build connections by showing pictures or videos from the place you’re talking about.
Virtual field trips or tours through the capital cities or each state’s most notable places to visit will help students build connections with the cities or states and give them a visual reference to recall.
#4 | Trivia Games
Trivia games help to make learning facts more competitive and challenging.
Using this game show template, you can add facts about states and capitals and use them with the whole class or as a practice station with students.
#5 | Map Labeling and Coloring
This one is simple but effective. Just get a simple coloring sheet of the United States.
Have students work through the sheet and name as many of the states as they can.
You can also call out a state and ask students to color it a specific color. If, at the end of the exercise, students color their page the same way you did yours, then you’ll know that they correctly identified the state.
You can do the same activity by calling out the capital instead.
#6 | Songs and/or Raps
Create a state rap or song that features a few states and their capitals.
Challenge students to come up with a song or rap that is memorable enough to teach to their peers.
If you want students to focus on a smaller group of states, you can divide them into different sections (e.g., time zones, regions, by years they became states, or what they’re known for).
#7 | BINGO
This one is pretty simple. Create a set of BINGO cards using the states. Then, to play, call a capital, and students find the state on their cards or vice versa.
If you’re working on visually identifying the states, you can also show a photo of the state and have students find the state’s name on their cards.
#8 | Puzzles
There are also a bunch of different puzzles that you can use with students. There are simple ones like this puzzle, which has images that you can use to help talk about the state, or puzzles like this, which have lots of different ways to play, including identifying capitals!
Learning your states and capitals may be a simple recall, but that doesn’t mean it has to be boring.
Hopefully, these 8 fun ways to practice states and capitals have given you some ideas and inspiration that you can take with you into this next school year!
