Students in any grade enjoy social studies when put into the context of a game show. Separating the class into teams encourages healthy competition, and prizes for correct answers provide motivation. A game modeled on the "Jeopardy" TV show, for example, gives students points for providing the right question when presented with geography or history answers. Students go up against each other, two at a time, using a flyswatter as their "buzzer." Adding point values for each question lets students pretend they're risking it all as a game show contestant.
Interactive role-playing games let outgoing kids express themselves, bring social studies to life as they portray historical people. The website "Time Warp Trio" suggests activities in which students use research skills to find information about famous figures. For example, when studying pilots such as Amelia Earhart and Bessie Coleman, students get into character as they role-play the women, and a "talk show host" interviews them about their lives. Some teachers turn the lesson into a guessing game, as the interview proceeds without naming the historical figure, and the class must guess the person's identity.
According to the Entertainment Software Association, 67 percent of U.S. households play computer or video games. Interactive computer games let technologically savvy children learn about history, geography, civics and government. Teachers use resources such as the "Primary Games" website to teach students about the 50 states and their capitals, presidents and maps. These interactive games keep children entertained while covering concepts required by state social studies standards.
Teachers address the needs of musically inclined students by incorporating social studies facts into song and dance. In a slight twist on the traditional game of musical chairs, the teacher plays music; every time it stops, the student without a chair must answer a social studies question. Students who answer correctly stay in the game, while those who don't must sit out. This game works for historical dates, economics vocabulary and facts about countries and cultures from around the world.