How to Teach History With Kids' Games

Prepare your materials before playing games. Look over the games and try playing them yourself. Anticipate questions that may come up and look up facts online or in books.

Play board games that teach history, like the Lewis and Clark Adventure game and Trivial Pursuit. Add to the learning by reading books or online articles about topics of interest.

Get some building sets, like kits to build castles, pyramids and cabins out of blocks or logs. Talk about the buildings and the time period when they were built. Tell stories about the people who lived in them and what life was like.

Purchase dinosaur play sets and excavation toys. Talk about the dinosaurs and what the earth was like when they lived.

Find educational games online from sites like Kidspast, the History Channel and the Colonial Williamsburg website (see Resources).

Look for strategy video games that teach history. Evaluate the games carefully before purchasing. Some games based on real wars are just first-person shooter games that don't incorporate historical facts, whereas other games, like the "Civilization" series from Firaxis Games, Inc., have been used in classrooms and recommended by educators.

Follow up your game playing, especially areas of history your child is particularly interested in. Visit museums and historical sites. Find information about the topic from websites and books.