Learn All 50 States and Capitals with this super Fun 50 states Unit Study

When it comes to learning about the states of America, it’s easy to understand why kids can get overwhelmed. Imagine having to first wrap your head around the fact that you are but one person among the 329,664,033 that live in the United States (as of May 2020). And then try to fathom the amount of land there is claimed by the USA that houses all those people.

It helps to see maps of the United States to comprehend its vastness. And when you divide this land up into 50 territories, it becomes a little bit more easier to grasp. But an even better way to learn about all the states is with a unit study – the 50 states unit study!

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Using 50 States Learning Resources – Why Use A Unit Study to Learn the 50 States?

Unit studies are based on the principle of learning through experience. The idea is to study a subject by experiencing it directly whenever possible, rather than by reading about it in textbooks. Hands-on activities can help engage your child with what he is studying, better preparing him for future learning.

Unit studies are also flexible enough to be adjusted to your family’s needs and lifestyle. You can pull out specific parts of the unit study that you want your child to focus on or just do the whole thing, depending on how much time you have available in a day.

They are an excellent way for children to learn in different ways. If one child learns best by hearing information first and seeing it visually, but the other learns better by doing an activity first and learning through hands-on instruction, a unit study can help you accommodate both styles.

How did each state become part of the United States? How did this come to be? Each state has it’s own mini-culture, its own historical story to tell. Each one has its own state song, motto, flag, anthems, bird, flower, and so on. And, like I said, story.

I don’t know about you but we’re big fans of history around here! (And I never would have known that if we didn’t homeschool. What a perk.)

Not only does each state have its own individualism about it, each state has its own population census to consider.

To make this concept easier to make sense of, I created the 50 States Homeschool Unit Study. With this 50 states homeschool curriculum, children can investigate each state individually, learning 6 fun facts of each state, along with learn the state shape, how to write and spell the state name, and even the state flag.

How To Learn the US States

This 50 States Unit Study can be taken at face value as a 50 states homeschool curriculum. Of course, you can always use this unit study with another 50 states curriculum, but you don’t need to.

Here’s everything you get inside this 50 states homeschool curriculum:

• 50 State Focus Pages
• State-Capital City Flashcards
• 50 States Alphabetical Order Game
• Alphabetical Order 50 States Puzzle
• State Flags In Color
• North American Map
• Answer Key

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If you would like additional state practice, there’s also the 50 States Unit Study Course available that includes even more games, puzzles, and flashcards! Check it out here!

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A 50 States Curriculum with >50 Focus Pages<

First, it’s best to learn one state a week. Or maybe 2 a week. One state a week will take you all year to learn, while 2 states a week will take you one semester (without breaks) so it’s up to you.

Next, take one state and its correlating states focus page. Each focus page includes the follow:

• State Facts
• Learn the state shape
• Learn how to spell and write the state name
• Color the state flag
• Find & Color the state in the USA map

Every state has its own focus page. The students color where the state is located on the big USA map, fill in fun facts about the state, color on the state flag, see the exact shape of the state with the Capital City indicated inside, and even learn penmanship with how to spell and write the state’s name.

To begin using this 50 states curriculum, I recommend you go through the entire State Focus Page together as a family, section by section. Let them learn the information first.

What’s Covered in the 6 Fun State Facts for Each Focus Page

When you begin teaching this to the kids, they’re not going to know every answer to the State Facts for each state. That’s why I also included an Answer Key for all the fun facts.

The State Fun Facts include:

1. Capital City
2. State Motto
3. State Bird
4. State Flower
5. State Nickname
6. State Abbreviation

Together as you go through each state, you can fill in all the facts about each state. For independent work, the child can color the state in on the map, color the state flag, and practice writing the state’s name.

When you get to the State Bird or the State Flower, consider googling each one so the kids can get a visual of that bird or that flower.

For example, when you get to the state bird for Florida on the facts, type in Florida State Bird Northern Mockingbird and see what all pops up so the kids can see what an actual Yellowhammer bird looks like.

They’ll be getting a great visual connection each state bird you google!

Plus, this works really well for your visual learners out there.

If you decide to also google the state nickname, it’ll be interesting to know how that state nickname came to be, wouldn’t it? Talk about fun rabbit trails!

I find me and the kids doing this oftennnnnn when we’re homeschooling. I can’t help it – I’m as curious as they are! And don’t they have just *the best* questions? Why not break out Dr. Google!

What’s funny is that my white board is actually a TV I put at the end of the table. I hook it up to my laptop during school time with an HDMI cable and the kids can view our homeschool schedule for the day through Homeschool Planet and then I use Microsoft Word as a white board! Ha!

Use the 50 States Alphabetical Order Game and Puzzle

In addition to having 50 focus pages, what’s also included in the 50 States Unit Study is the fun alphabetical order 50 states game and puzzle.

These fun 50 states learning resources helps your kids learn how to put the states in alphabetical order in one resource. Then in the puzzle, you cut out each piece (state name), mix them all together, and put then in alphabetical order.

The 50 States Alphabetical Order game comes with a state legend, a list of random states, for your kids to look at all on one page. They can cross out each state as they use them when they play the game so as not to reuse them. They will be practicing learning each state, their name, and the state spelling of the state name as they play this alphabetical order game.

You can play this game in two ways:

FOR BEGINNERS: The first way is for them to use the legend and mark off each state they use. Do this game multiple times until they get a knack for the order of the states.

FOR ADVANCED: The second way is for them to not use the state legend. You can use this way if you really want to test their skills, such as throughout the year or even at the end of the unit study. For this reason, that’s why the state legend is on page 4 all on its own. See how many states they can think of and put them in order without looking at the legend!

As a side note, the Answer Key that houses the state fun facts are in alphabetical order so you can answer check there. 😉

Alphabetical Order 50 States Puzzle

For the puzzle, all the states are within a piece of the puzzle. You just need to cut along the dotted lines, mix up the pieces, and then rearrange them back in order from A to Z. Well, from A to W, right?

This teaches kids the state names with a spiral review approach and, more to the point, helps them practice putting the states in alphabetical order. Why is this important? Because the more they can learn the 50 states in alphabetical order, the more they will come to learn all the 50 states and their names.

It visually exposes them to the word – the state name – and the spelling of the name. The 50 states alphabetical order game and puzzle helps them retain this information – learning all 50 states – a lot easier.

Flags of the States

Each state has its own flag with it that you can color. I’ve also included a key page where you know what the colors are! You can print this page out or you can just leave up on your laptop/tablet for your kids to see the flag colors.

50 Dot-to-Dot pages and State Motto Copywork

Practice learning the state motto of each state with copywork pages. Plus, there’s a box at the bottom that helps with further thinking and comprehension about the state motto. Draw what this may look like, or What do you think this means are within the copywork pages.

Additionally, you will see 50 pages of dot-to-dot puzzles. This will make learning the states’ shapes fun and effective!

For each State Focus page (see above), it includes where the child needs to color the state on the United States map. But also, there are 50 pages to coloring for reinforcement and further practice.

50 States Capitals Song

If there’s one thing that will stick in kids’ minds, its learning something with rhythm! With a tune!

Toot this song in your home and you’ll be surprised how fast your kids learn the states!

I also recommend following each state study up with an educational video lesson, many of which you can find on YouTube or YouTube Kids. One of my favorite channels is Kids Learning Tube:

The 50 States Capitals Song is pretty brilliant. Why didn’t I think of that?

Here is one state video {California} that is part of a bigger video playlist of all of the 50 States, which can be found on the YT channel Homeschool Pop:

50 States Lesson Plans and Lapbook Ideas

Another idea to use this packet is by creating lapbooks with what’s included. Use the 150+ pages inside the 50 States Unit Study Pack by creating your own 50 States Lapbook! You can find free lapbook templates here.

You can also create your own individual lesson plans for each state:

1. Introduce the state with text and the Fun Facts sheet included in this Unit Study packet.
2. Watch a Youtube Video about the state.
3. Check out books at the public library on your state.
4. Search online for free activity packs on that particular state.

Where To Get the 50 State Unit Study

So, you have two options here:

1.) You can grab JUST the 50 States Unit Study PDF download, which includes 50 state focus pages, alphabet-capital city flash cards, and alphabet-order game (with answer key and state flags in color). ($10 value)

When your child studies the 50 states, she learns:

• Spelling of the state name
• How to write the state name
• State shape
• Capitals of the 50 United States
• Nicknames for all 50 states
• State flags
• State flowers
• State birds
• Mottos for all 50 states
• Further comprehension study of what each motto means
• Map skills
• Geography knowledge
• History
• World location

Access the Resource Here!

FOR A LIMITED TIME, GET THE 50 STATES UNIT STUDY FOR FREE!

You have two options:

• The PDF unit study, or
• The 50 states COURSE with additional resources added!

The download is available in pdf format, which can be read on any computer, smart phone or tablet.

The 50 states PDF includes:

• 50 State Focus Pages that include 6 fun facts for each state
• Answer Key to the fun facts
• 1 Flash card set – state/abbreviation
• Alphabet-Order Game + Puzzle

BUT WAIT!

You can grab the 50 States Unit Study COURSE, which includes everything inside the pdf download option plus much, much more resources! ($27 value)

The course includes everything you get inside the unit study pack plus a lot more:

• 50 State Focus Pages with 6 fun facts (nickname, abbreviation, motto, capital city, bird, flower)
• Learn to spell the state name and penmanship practice
• Learn the location on the map
• Learn the State Flag
• 3 Sets of Flashcards:
  • State- Capital City Flashcards
  • State – Abbreviation Flashcards
  • World Landmarks Flashcards
• 50 Dot-to-Dot puzzles for each state + State Name Writing Practice
• 50 State Motto Copywork + State Motto Comprehension Drawing pages
• Video Playlist for each state = 50 Videos
• Word Search Puzzles with the capital cities
• Crossword Puzzles for the state nicknames
• Alphabetical Order Game
• Alphabetical Order Puzzle
• State Flags in Color
• Answer Key

Remember, if you want more practice resource, consider grabbing the 50 States Unit Study Course!

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Add Even More Unit Studies to Your Homeschool!

I’m super excited to link arms with several other bloggers to provide you with more unit studies for your homeschooling lesson plans! Now that you’ve read all about (insert your post title here), hop over to (insert the name of the blog listed after yours from the list below and be sure to link to their post) and check out their unit study and free resource. 

1. With the Huddlestons
2. Special Needs Homeschooling
3. A Family Devoted
4. Blessed Homeschool
5. Homeschool & Humor – you’re here!
6. In All You Do
7. Beth Ann Averill
8. Everyday Graces Homeschool
9. Hess UnAcademy