Two fun ways to learn States and Capitals!
Geography takes us from place to place, instead of traveling by car, train, or plane - many people walk, bike, or run all over the map! Physical activity can be a great way to teach Geography. Memorizing all the states and capitals is always a fun challenge. It’s just as important to be able to locate them on the map! Studies Weekly states “The study of geography opens up students’ awareness to what is around them locally and globally, and the connectedness of people, regions and cultures within those places. This knowledge can help them think critically about the world as they become the world’s government, business and family leaders.”
Try PowerUp’s Geography exercises below to get in the Geography mindset!
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State Jumps
Participants will jump to “travel” to different states. Ask, “which state is two jumps north of Alabama” After the kids answer, everyone jumps two jumps forward and they are “in” Kentucky. To Challenge students, give them a state to start in and a state to end in and ask them how many jumps in each direction they need to take to get there. For example to get from California to South Dakota the students would have to do 4 jumps East and 2 jumps North.
Capitals Freeze Tag
Like traditional freeze tag, except instead of being "frozen" students list the capital of a state and perform an exercise to be "unfrozen". For example, ask “what is the capital of Nebraska” when the student answers “Lincoln” then spell out Lincoln while doing jumping jacks (one letter for each jumping jack) and then they are “unfrozen”.
Download this printable pdf version of PowerUp Geography!
Did you enjoy these activities? Take a look at our activity bundles or even request sample lesson plans to learn more!
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