For the past few years for homeschool we are have been slowly learning about the 50 states and it’s been so fun. I have always loved geography and history and it’s so fun to share that with my kids.
When I first planned our social studies/ history learning about the 50 States I planned on doing it in a year. But we figured out that we really enjoy learning about the states slowly and adding it in with our other studies.
We have been learning about the United States for 3 years now and it’s been so fun. That being said you can definitly do these unit studies at a faster pace if you would like.
Learning about the 50 States
There are tons of different curriculum options out there so do your research and figure out what will work best for your family.
The curriculum and activities I mention in this post are things that I have decided will work well for my family.
United States Curriculum
When we first started learning about the United States we used Road Trip USA History and Geography curriculum. But after just a few states we weren’t loving it so…I decided to make my own curriculum.
The curriculum I created has a lesson for each of the 50 states and one for Washington DC . You can see what our unit studies look like in this post about our Utah Unit Study.
While you could easily use this curriculum with no other supplements and have an awesome year there are a few other items I’m getting to make our study of the 50 states a little more hands-on and fun for my kids.
Along with all the fun facts about each state I really want my kids to learn the names of each state and start to learn the capitals as well.
How to Learn the 50 States
There are so many different resources you could get to go along with this curriculum and help you learn the 50 states. Here are just a few of the options that I will be using with my kids.
50 States Flashcards
There are a lot of states flashcards out there but none of them were exactly what I wanted so to help us with our study of the states I created some flashcards.
Each card has the outline of the state, the state name, the state capital and a map of the United States showing where that state fits.
I plan on printing out two sets of these flashcards, so I have 2 of each state and using them as both flashcards and a memory match game. We might even use them to play go fish.
You could always print more sets to have 3 or 4 of each state to play go fish. I’m thinking we will play go fish by dividing the states by region not with all of the states so it’s not so overwhelming at least at first.
Get your own set of 50 States Flashcards here.
50 States Puzzles
50 states puzzles are a great way to get more familiar with the state shapes and where they fit into the United States. There are several different state puzzle options we have one similir to this wooden puzzle and I also got this magnetic puzzle.
Kids United States Atlas
Another great way to learn a little more about each state is by using an Atlas of the United States.
I really like this The 50 States Atlas the illustrations are cute and it’s filled with fun information.
The National Geographic Kids beginner atlas is also filled with information and has photographs instead of drawings.
Stack the States Game
Stack the states is an awesome game for learning the state capitals, shapes, geographical location, maps and more.
You can have up to 6 profiles and work on collecting all 50 states, plus unlock free bonus games the more you play and learn.
The game has hundreds of unique questions and can be set up so that the questions are read aloud if needed for younger kids.
The Stack the States Game is an app you can get on your phone or tablet. I have it installed on my kid’s Kindles.
50 States Song
Did you ever learn the 50 Nifty United States Song? That song has been around for such a long time and we will be using it to help us memorize the names of each of the states. Here is the song on youtube if you don’t remember it.
Singin’ Smart has a different song that teaches the united states by region. The songs come as a CD and you can get an activity book that goes along with it.
Picture Books
As part of our school day, we spend time reading each day, to go along with our study of the united states we will be reading some picture books about each state we learn about.
We will be getting most of these books from the library. A couple of series that I plan on using for each state are, What’s so Great About this State series of books and Discover America State By State. I’m sure we will find additional books as we study different states.
We will also be using the If You Lived history books that are recommended to go with the curriculum.
Map of the United States
Having a large map of the United States hanging on your wall or that you can lay out is a great way for kids to visually learn where states are located.
This will also help them learn about distance, areas, and the shape of the united states.
The map we are using is a felt map that I found at the Target Dollar Spot a couple of years ago. On Amazon, you can find several different map options.
State Quarter Collection Book
The State Quarter Collection Book is a total extra but because my kids are really into learning about money I thought it would be fun to start a little coin collection with them.
We will be using the State Quarter Collection book and spending sometime trying to find the 50 states quarters.
50 States Scratch Map
Because my kids are so young I can’t decide if we will use a state scratch map or not.
I think it would be a fun addition to our study and we could either scratch off the states as we learn about them or scratch off the ones we have visited.
I’m not sure if we will use one of these this year or if we will wait until next year.
More Homeschool Posts
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post was originially written in August 2020 and has been updated.