The US States are a fun subject to study with children and there are lots of different ways to go about it. Below, I share exactly how we set up our lessons as well as a variety of multi-sensory strategies we also mixed in for fun. Near the end is a FREE printable you can download!
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Learning US States in Preschool
I first introduced our boys to a map of the United States with a floor puzzle when they were preschoolers. My oldest loves sports so I printed out the names and logos of the NFL teams onto cardstock and taped them on the appropriate states with painter’s tape and he was totally hooked.
This was the puzzle that we used:
- Educational USA Map Puzzle for Kids – Explore all 50 states with this jumbo 51-piece floor puzzle featuring state names, shapes, and capitals; a fun and engaging way to learn U.S. geography.
- Durable, Easy-to-Clean Design – Extra-thick cardboard pieces with a wipe-clean surface ensure long-lasting use and easy maintenance for repeated play at home or in the classroom.
- Promotes Skill-Building Play – Encourages cognitive development, critical thinking, spatial reasoning, and fine motor skills through hands-on, screen-free puzzle activity.
- Jumbo Size for Big Fun – Completed puzzle measures 2 x 3 feet (24" x 36"), providing a large, colorful map display that’s easy for kids to assemble and explore on the floor or play surface
- Gift-Ready Educational Toy – Makes a thoughtful gift for kids ages 6 and up for birthdays, holidays, or everyday play; a screen-free, interactive learning experience.; This product is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. Please note that FSC certification applies to new inventory only (FSC C156584)
- Room to collect all 56 quarters from both the Philadelphia and Denver mints -- 112 quarters in all!
- Quarters press into secure display slots across the U.S. map, with easy pop-out tabs for removal.
- If you are collecting complete sets of quarters from both mints, use the Alternate Mint set of quarter display slots to the right of the U.S. map.
- Fun facts about each state, including date of admission to the union, state capital, state flower, and state bird.
- Each quarter slot features the design of that state's quarter, so you know exactly what to look for as you collect.
Formal Learning of US States
Once the boys were in 1st or 2nd grade, we started more “formal lessons” about the US States three times a week. We would pick one state per week to learn. After finding it on the map, we would use the following routine.
US State Songs
First, we watched videos of each state’s song and other songs related to that state using State Songs of the 50 States Online Course from Music in our Homeschool. My youngest son especially loved easing into each lesson this way. The videos chosen for each song do a great job of highlighting some sites or history about the particular state. And the lessons provide all sorts of facts about the state like the state nickname, abbreviation, symbols and more. You can even download the sheet music for the state songs if you would like.
US States Notebooking Pages
The second time we learned about the state each week, we pulled out our notebooking pages. (Although, after a few months my youngest son started pulling his out while he watched the videos above.) We loved these notebooking pages from The Crafty Classroom.
The boys colored the pictures while I read from a book about that state. As we found specific facts in the book, they filled in the information on their notebooking sheet. At the end of the reading, they picked an additional fact or two that was interesting to them to write on their notebooking page. We kept these in a three-ring notebook with a US map in the front to color each state as they finished the corresponding notebooking page.
Books about the United States
Our local library has all sorts of books about the states, but our favorite series by far was the series of alphabet books like this one:
I liked to get the hard copy of these books so the boys could flip through them on their own, but they are also available electronically through Hoopla, which is a service our library supplies. This was great for weeks I forgot to plan ahead and needed to pull the book up quickly!
US State Sorting Mats
If you have been around the blog for awhile, you know I love our sorting mats and so of course, I had to create some for the US States. They are organized regionally in groups of five. Children match cards to each state that contain information like the state flower or animal, the state flag, the outline of the state, when it entered the union and more!
At the end of each week, I pulled out the state we just learned as well as any states we had already learned about in that region. So some weeks there was just one mat with cards from a few other states to make them think harder. Other weeks there were multiple state mats with the corresponding cards.
Learn more about the State Sorting Mats here.
The sorting mats were a great way to assess how much the children learned without it feeling like a test! They also allowed them to practice what they learned and use their critical thinking skills to figure out the information they hadn’t committed to memory, yet!
Listening to Learn US States
I have since added another great resource to our store…Listening to Learn US States. There are two sets of directions to learn about each state. One focuses on interesting places on a map of the state and the other focuses on symbols and other facts of the state with a notebooking style page. To get an idea of what the directions are like, download this FREE set of directions about the United States as a whole.
Less Formal Learning of US States
We also used some other fun activities to change lessons up. Sometimes we took a week off from learning a state and used these activities instead. Or we included them in a Fun Friday or a family game night.
Map Work
Several years ago, I found a relief map of the United States at our local homeschool consignment store that we always pulled out when studying the states. A few summers ago, I discovered a new way to use it!
Sarah Mackenzie shares the idea in her book, Teaching From Rest. She suggests giving your child a blank map along with your educational map and have him fill in some of the information, such as five states and one or two bodies of water.
Then the next day, just give him the blank map and see how much he can fill in on his own from memory. Once he has done this, give him the educational map again to fill in anything he has missed and add a few more pieces of information.
Continue in this manner so your child commits a few more pieces of the map to memory each day you work on it. My older son loves this activity! To him, it is a competition with himself to see how much he can commit to memory.
US State Games
Games are always a fun way to review information and the Scrambled States of America is one we like to play. The goal is to match a ‘riddle’ to one of your states, such as “Is north of Nebraska” or “Capital starts with S or T”.
- Ages 8 and up
- Professor Noggins series of educational card games encourages kids to learn interesting facts about their favorite subjects like the Geography of the United States.
- Each of the thirty game cards combines trivia, true or false, and multiple choice questions.
- Easy and hard levels keep kids interested and challenged, while of course having fun.
- A special three numbered die is included which adds an element of unpredictability.
- For 2 to 8 players ages and up.
- Hundreds of unique questions
- Interactive map and 50 state flash cards
- Choose any of the 50 friendly-looking states as your avatar
- Create up to six player profiles
- Collect all 50 states and track your progress on a personalized map
- FAST-PACED STRATEGY: Race to build your train routes across iconic American cities in this award-winning board game.
- COMPETITIVE FUN: Challenge friends and family in a 2-5 player game, where every move counts.
- COLLECT TRAIN CARDS: Strategically gather train cards to claim routes and earn points.
- TICKET TO SUCCESS: Plan your routes wisely with ticket cards for bonus points.
- ENDLESS REPLAYABILITY: Enjoy hours of entertainment with this classic board game.
FREE US State Matching Worksheets
A simple activity to assess what your children have learned is to give them a worksheet to match the state name to some of the state facts. You can download these Matching US States and Flags Worksheets for FREE! There are ten worksheets with each one containing five different states. The states are organized into the same regions as the US Sorting Mats.
Do you have any other resources for studying US geography? Let us know so we can share them with others!
To Learn More About the Sorting Mats:
