Teaching Expertise

Hello history teacher! Which social studies unit are you dealing with? If you are learning about the old British Colonies, this is the perfect blog for you! Whether you are looking for independent activities, something new and hands-on, or even something simple, the list below will provide you with something special to add to your next American history colonial lesson. Read on for a diverse list of thirteen ways to engage your students when learning about the original colonies. 

1. Watch a Video

Short videos are a great way to start a new English colonies unit. This visual colonies map has a short recap at the end which will be perfect for fostering discussion. After this four-minute video, ask students what they learned, and what they already knew, before diving into a colonies map activity.

Learn more: Kids Academy

2. Read and Quiz

Pre-made digital activities are the best! Here is some light reading followed by a ten-question quiz that will provide you with real-time student data. Learn the difference between the Middle and Southern colonies with this informative read about the colonial region. 

Learn more: Ducksters

3. Memorize in Order

Which colony was first? The correct answer can be found here! This PDF begins with an answer key and moves on to a unique story about a girl named Virginia. The words in this story are a great addition to a kid’s interactive unit for them to memorize which colony came first and which came last.

Learn more: Memory Joggers

4. Word Search

Here is a fun American colonies word search. Finding these states will provide a nice break from a colonies map activity. Create your own answer key by completing the word search yourself! Students can use a highlighter to identify the words or circle them using colored pencils.

Learn more: Education

5. Play a Board Game

This board game is a great way to review your thirteen colonies trivia. In this colonies map activity, students will need to strategize on how to best utilize their geography knowledge. There is very little teacher prep needed- simply print, cut, and tape! 

Learn more: Education

6. Timed Geography Quiz

See all the colonies in color with this online quiz. Map quizzes with colonies in color are much more interesting than plain black-and-white colony map quizzes. Have students record their times and see who can complete this the fastest!

Learn more: Purpose Games

7. Airplane Game

Fly your airplane to the correct cloud in this virtual manipulative. Quizzes with auto-correcting provide instant feedback for your students. Learners won’t even realize they are doing a colonies map activity because they will have so much fun catching the clouds!

Learn more: Word Wall

8. Review Game

In this thirteen-question gameshow quiz, students will be tested on the various colonial regions. You can set this up as a partner activity on laptops or tablets, or project it on the big screen for whole-class participation. 

Learn more: Word Wall

9. Type It Out

Map quizzes are great, but this particular quiz game requires that students write the full name of the colony pictured and add capitalization. This digital map is perfect for learning how to spell difficult state names, such as Connecticut. 

Learn more: IXL

10. Make a Travel Brochure

Have students differentiate between New England, Southern colonies, and Mid-Atlantic colonies with this interactive map activity. They will divide colonies into regions and color maps to create their own travel brochure. Encourage students to do some of their own research for the “Reasons for Colonization” column. 

Learn more: Teach Starter

11. Create a StoryBoard

Economic activities will help students connect with the maps on a deeper level. The one pictured here is about the economies of the 13 colonies, but your students can make their own storyboard based on whatever topic they are most interested in.

Learn more: Story Board That

12. Jigsaw the Facts

This link provides thirteen facts about the colonies. Print it out and break students into groups where each group is tasked with becoming an expert on their assigned fact. Learn how the southern colonies differ from the New England colonies. 

Learn more: History

13. Interactive Notebook

This is so much more than a simple worksheet or redundant labeling activity. Hands-on activities that allow students to color can be extremely engaging. Once completed, this notebook can serve as an interactive scavenger hunt where you provide scavenger hunt clues and students have to flip up the correct colony. 

Learn more: Appletastic Learning