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Cool Social Studies Games for Middle School Kids

Motivating a preteen to do his social studies homework is often difficult, but many electronic and traditional games are available that will maintain his interest to improve his school performance. Games help him learn in several areas, including politics, geography, archaeology, state capitols and information about important historical figures.

School Time Games
- The School Time Games website features many interactive games for middle school kids. "Pharaoh's Tomb" is a game in which the player moves an archaeologist around a tomb in search of treasure. This game helps players learn about archaeology, mummies, pyramids and Egyptian history. "Westward" is a game that teaches players about the Old West and settlements. Players build their own settlements, full of ranches, farms and other structures. In "Time Trip" the player rearranges four selections into chronological order, which teaches her about important historical eras and will her remember important dates.
National Geographic
- National Geographic features many activities suitable for middle school students. In addition to periodicals with written games and quizzes, National Geographic also has an extensive list of online games. "Go West with Lewis and Clark" simulates the historic journey as the player has to make important decisions while on the trip. "Crittercam" has the player drive a vehicle as he learns about places such as an African safari or Antarctica. "GeoBee" is an online version of the National Geographic Bee in which players answer trivia questions about different cultures, historical eras and geography. Students up to eighth grade can participate in the real competition, starting on the school level until they reach the national competition.
Kids Geo
- Kids Geo is an interactive website where students study state capitols and maps. Students quickly identify the state capitols from the available options until they have correctly identified 21 capitols. Other options on the website include matching states to the appropriate area on the U.S. map and matching countries to the appropriate area on the map.
Board Games
- Several board games help middle school kids learn about social studies. Classics include Risk, Stratego and the Great States Game. Portions of other games are also helpful in this area, such as Jeopardy! Junior, Outburst and Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader?. Specialty board games can also be found online, including games about presidential trivia, history specific to a specific country or continent or geography games that use a globe or cutouts from the board. Another option is to have students make up their own board game after providing them with general guidelines.

Kids Games