In this game, students race to name each state in the country. Divide your class into pairs and provide each pair with an unlabeled map of the 50 states. On your mark, students fill in the name of each state. The first pair of students to correctly write the name of each state in the correct location wins the game.
Play a state-guessing game with your class. Divide your class into two teams and instruct each team to form a single-file line. Give information that pertains to a specific state to the first player on each team. For example, you may say, "It's also known as the Empire State, it is home the largest city in the country, and its capital is Albany." The first person to guess "New York" in the given example earns a point for her team. The first two players step to the back of the line and the next two players are provided with information about another state. Continue playing until all the states have been reviewed. The team that earns the most points wins the game.
The United States is divided into different regions and this game tests students' knowledge of the states within each of these regions. On index cards, write the different regions of the United States: Northeast, South, Southwest, West and Midwest. Distribute the cards to your students so that each student has a set of U.S. region cards. Upon naming a state, students hold up the card that illustrates its location. For instance, if you've said "New Mexico," students should hold up the card that says "Southwest." Award a point to each student who correctly names the region. The student who has the most points at the end of the game wins.
Reinforce knowledge of the capitals with this game. On one set of index cards write the names of the 50 states, and on another set write the names of the capitals. Spread the capital cards face-up on the ground and place the state cards in a face-down pile. One student at at time takes a state card and must match it to the capital card. If the student makes a correct match, he may keep the cards; if he doesn't, he passes the state card to the next player, who tries to match the state to the capital. The player with the most cards after all cards have been matched wins the game.