30 Social Studies Game Websites
(with brief descriptions)
compiled by Kenneth Joslin
English Colonization
Colonial Times
The French and Indian War
The American Revolution
The War of 1812
The Civil War
General Sites
30 Social Studies Game Websites
Below is a list of websites that I have found and regularly use in my Social Studies class. I have
tried to group them where I use them in 5th grade. While I use them with 5th graders, many of
these websites are wonderful for students of all different ages.
I periodically check to make sure all of these sites are still active, because as all of you know,
sometimes links go dead. All of these websites have been verified by me on 7/14/2013 as
working sites.
I suggest Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox as your browser when playing any of these games.
They all work in Internet Explorer, but I find that sometimes in IE, I don’t get a full view of the
game.
English Colonization
Explore Jamestown: Dig the Fort:
http://www.kewlbox.com/games/gameDetail.aspx?gameID=228
Grab your shovel and compass! We’re celebrating the rich history and importance of Jamestown
in this artifact-hunting game, Explore Jamestown: Dig the Fort, where you unearth artifacts
while avoiding the many hazards settlers faced so many years ago.
I use this site as a free time activity and as something I put in my newsletter.
*History Globe Jamestown Adventure:
http://www.historyglobe.com/jamestown/popupwindow.html
This is a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure style game, where students are asked to make some of
the same choices that faced the original Jamestown colonists. Students are then rated on how
they did in the areas of Food, Health, Wealth and Morale. This is a very popular game with my
students.
I use this site while we are doing our Colony Simulation. In the simulation students are faced
with many of same choices the Jamestown settlers and John Smith had to make, so playing this
game gives them a lot of information that they can then use in the simulation. I like to do this in
the planning stages of our simulation so that students can try to learn from the Virginia
Company’s mistakes and do better with their colony companies.
National Geographic Kids On The Trail of John Smith: A Jamestown Adventure
http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/games/interactiveadventures/john-smith/
This is a very in depth and interesting game that my students enjoy tremendously. It begins with
a reading about John Smith (students can read it themselves of listen to it as it is read), then
comes a question about what you would do in the situation John Smith or the colonists find
themselves in. After completing the reading, a game is unlocked. Users then have the
opportunity to play a game related to what they just read. For example you start by listening
about building the Jamestown Fort and the disagreement between John Smith and Colony
President Edward Maria Wingfield about this issue, you are then asked if you would build a fort,
or not build a fort. You then learn what the colonists decided and what happened. After doing
this section, the Build a Fort game is opened up for you to play.
I use this site while we are doing our Colony Simulation. In the simulation students are faced
with many of same choices the Jamestown settlers and John Smith had to make, so playing this
game gives them a lot of information that they can then use in the simulation.
*I have activity sheets for both the Jamestown Adventure and on the Trail of John Smith that I
will be posting to my Teachers Pay Teachers store soon.
Colonial Times
Colonial Williamsburg Mr. Jefferson’s Magical Maze:
http://www.history.org/kids/games/magicalMaze/index.cfm
This is a vocabulary game. You choose a character and then begin exploring the maze. As you
explore the maze you will collect clues, which serve as possible answers to vocabulary questions
you have to answer at different checkpoints. This game is a fun way to explore some of the
different vocabulary used in colonial times.
Colonial Williamsburg Treasure Trek:
http://treasuretrek.history.org/
This is a scavenger hunt, where players try to correctly guess where in town they would find a
list of colonial items. Some items are easy; some will be more challenging for students. With
each item, you get a clue to where to find it.
Colonial Williamsburg Merchant Matchup:
http://www.history.org/foundation/journal/Autumn10/signs/
In this game you are matching jobs to the historic signs that would have been displayed outside
their shops. This is an interesting glimpse of historic signs and some occupations from colonial
times, but not too much information.
Colonial Williamsburg Pardon or Pillory:
http://www.history.org/kids/games/pardonOrPillory.cfm
This basically “hangman” game using words from colonial times.
Colonial Williamsburg Cooperation (Cooper):
http://www.history.org/kids/games/cooperation.cfm
Students learn about the different tools a Cooper used during this point in history.
Colonial Williamsburg Tool Trouble (Blacksmith):
http://www.history.org/kids/games/toolTrouble.cfm
Students learn about the different tools a blacksmith used.
I like to use all of the Colonial Williamsburg Games as free time activities. I find that they
provide a lot of good background knowledge for The American Revolution Simulation I do later
in the year.
French and Indian War
Webrangers Young George Washington:
http://www.webrangers.us/activities/youngwashington/
This is an informative activity detailing George Washington’s role in the French and Indian War
with some interactive activities. This activity provides students with a lot of information that is
useful in our French and Indian War Simulation and also later in our American Revolution
Simulation.
Colonial Williamsburg Drum Corp Tryout:
http://www.history.org/kids/games/drumCorpsTryout.cfm
This is just for fun. We learn about marching and military tactics when I teach the French and
Indian War, so I like to introduce kids to this game then, because the drum corps was important
for marching.
Revolutionary War
Webrangers George Washington’s Code:
http://www.webrangers.us/activities/georgewashcode/
Students get to decode a secret message using an actual code used by George Washington during
the Revolutionary War. I like to use it as a jump off point to making our own codes and coded
messages.
Webrangers The Patriot Spy:
http://www.webrangers.us/activities/patriot/#activitySWF
There are some interesting activities on this one.
Mission US- For Crown or Colony?:
http://www.mission-us.org/
This is an amazing Choose-Your-Own-Adventure style game, where students take on the role of
a young apprentice printer in Boston just before the Boston Massacre. The game does a great job
of presenting multiple perspectives about what is happening in Boston at this time and lets them
decide what they would do.
Liberty Kids Continental Cartoons:
http://libertyskids.com/cartoons/index2.html
This is a little like playing Pictionary where all the things you are guessing are related to the
Revolutionary War.
Liberty Kids Word Search:
http://libertyskids.com/wordsearch/index.html
This is a word search using words related to the Revolutionary War.
Liberty Kids Witticism Challenge:
http://libertyskids.com/quizs/quiz_wits.html
Students pick the missing word to complete some Revolutionary Era adages by Ben Franklin.
Liberty Kids Riddle Riot:
http://libertyskids.com/quizs/quiz_riddles.html
Students choose the best answer to complete a riddle.
Liberty Kids Mystery Guest:
http://libertyskids.com/mysteryguest/index2.html
Given clues students try to guess important figures from the Revolutionary War era.
The Liberty Kids site has some good free time games that provide valuable background
information that comes in handy when we are learning about the American Revolution.
PBS Road to Revolution:
http://www.pbs.org/ktca/liberty/road.html
This is a site that quizzes students about events and people in the Revolutionary War. This is a
good review activity for students to test what they remember from the unit.
Colonial Williamsburg Name That Founding Father:
http://www.history.org/kids/games/foundingFather.cfm
Students participate in a game show where they try to correctly identify different founding
fathers.
Colonial Williamsburg Word Search:
http://www.history.org/kids/games/wordsearch/index.cfm
This site has an interactive word search using Revolutionary War words.
You Are There Historical Simulation- American Revolution:
http://wadsworth.cengage.com/history_d/special_features/ext/hist_sims/revolution/swfs/revolutio
n.html
This is a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure style where students can choose to take on the role of a
Patriot, a Loyalist or a woman. This is a really interesting site because it provides information
from two perspectives that we rarely hear about, a woman and a Loyalist.
War of 1812
Webrangers Powder Monkey:
http://www.webrangers.us/activities/powdermonkey/
Students learn about the USS Constitution and the role powder monkeys played on the early
Navy ships.
Webrangers Semaphore:
http://www.webrangers.us/activities/semaphore/
Students learn about Semaphore and then try to decode several words using Semaphore signals.
Civil War
Mission US- Flight For Freedom
http://www.mission-us.org/pages/landing-mission-2
This is a great interactive Choose-Your-Own-Adventure style game where you take on the role
of a slave escaping from the South.
General Sites:
You Are There Historical Simulations
http://wadsworth.cengage.com/history_d/special_features/ext/hist_sims/
Learning Games for Kids:
http://www.learninggamesforkids.com/social_studies_games.html
BBC Battle of Trafalgar (Naval Combat):
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/interactive/games/battlefield_academy_se/index_embed.shtml
BBC Battlefield Academy (Roman, Medieval, Napoleonic, WWII):
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/interactive/games/battlefield_academy/index_embed.shtml
Thank you for downloading my list of Social Studies Websites!
I hope that you find them as useful as I do, and I hope your students enjoy them as much as mine
do.
I would greatly appreciate if you liked my list of websites and think they will be useful to you,
please take a minute to rate my product on Teachers Pay Teachers.