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State Games for Kids

At some point, students will learn and memorize the 50 states and their capitals, and kids love to learn by actively doing. Visually stimulating and interactive games often are more beneficial than a textbook is when discovering facts and trivia about the United States. One method might be through tracing diagrams or jigsaw puzzles; another is through song and rhyme. State games can be fast-moving and educational for students with different learning styles.

Scramble
- Kids with strong memorization skills think in pictures and images. Matching games are effective for identification and recalling location of the states. Additionally, imagery offers visual descriptions that make it easier to remember state facts and trivia.
  
  Consider "The Scrambled States of America" card game. Based on a book by the same title, children must assist the scrambled states by finding their way back home. This game employs pattern recognition and observation. Each state card offers clues and trivia to improve memory in locating the states on a map.
  
  With easy-to-follow rules and the need for quick reflexes, this game sharpens students' memory skills with action-packed entertainment.
Leaps and Bounds
- Kids who process information verbally benefit from orating facts and information. They might recite or sing a catchy tune to master the locations of the states on a map.
  
  In the game "Hop Off! USA Edition," a player draws a state card. Starting from the Pacific or Atlantic Ocean, he must toss a bean bag across a 33-square-foot U.S. map to the chosen state. When the bean bag lands on the state or its borders, the player hops to the state and retrieves the bean bag. On the return, he must recite the state names, facts or capitals.
Line Up
- Some kids prefer information in chronological order. They generally analyze facts before reaching a conclusion.
  
  The "Sequence States and Capitals" game, which resembles tic-tac-toe, is a card and board game that requires a stratagem. Players must match the state's shape and color with the corresponding shape and color on the board. Once recognized, the player lays a marker on the space. Players compete to connect a sequence of five markers in rows diagonally, vertically and horizontally.
  
  Players also must prevent an opponent from forming a finished row. To win, they must decide whether to add markers on their row, block a player or start another row.
Comprehensive
- Kids who require a lot of stimuli to learn need a combination of visual, auditory and tactile. Online geographic games are one method for learning the location of the states.
  
  Sheppard's Software has produced state games for the beginner to the mastered geographer. The site is user-friendly and offers tutorials. Under the state heading on the homepage are nine levels in that category alone. Depending on age or skill level, the child soon will learn to find states, capitals, landscape and trivia through drag and click to more complex methods.

Kids Games