Using games to teach civics can be a great way to make your social studies class more exciting. Not all games are created equal, and some are just fancy ways to test repetition and recall.
But some games do a good job of making abstract ideas for accessible for students and scaffolding how to think about tough concepts. Good games combine exciting(ish) gameplay, motivating game mechanics, and important concepts. Some good examples are the ReDistricting Game, as well as some iCivics offerings like Do I Have a Right and Race to Ratify.
Game based learning isn’t just about video games, either. You can find some quality board games and card games that teach civics concepts – like Politicraft and Mapmaker: the Gerrymandering Game.
All of these games are ways to simulate democratic processes for your students, which is one of the proven practices for improving civics education.
Check out the collection of posts below for some reviews, suggestions, and news about teaching civics with games.
NewsFeed Defenders is a game by iCivics about media literacy. In this review, we’ll take a look at how the game is played, the teacher resources available to use alongside it, and what’s great and not so great about the game. NewsFeed Defenders is a good introduction to an important topic. Through the game, students […]
Immigration Nation is an iCivics game that helps students begin to understand restrictions on immigration to the United States. In this review, we’ll take a look at how to play the game, whether it’s any good or not, and how you might use it in your class to teach civics and government. It’s quick, and […]
Sortify is an iCivics game developed in partnership with Brainpop. In this review, we’ll take a look at how to play the game, whether it’s any good or not, and how you might use it in your class to teach civics and government. I’ll start up front by saying this isn’t one of their best […]
iCivics recently re-released one of their election games, Cast Your Vote. Since tomorrow is election day, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to give it a run through and share a review of the game. In Cast Your Vote, your students will learn how they can be informed voters in an election. They […]
When I started doing research for this list of political board games, one of the games that really stood out to me was Politicraft: An Action Civics Card Game. It looked like it had some real potential for use in the classroom, and it’s endorsed by the National Council for Social Studies. So when I […]
This Civic Spotlight is by Josh Lafair, one of the creators of Mapmaker: the Gerrymandering Game. If you have a story to tell, visit the submissions page and let us know. My name is Josh Lafair, and I’m a senior in high school. I enjoy board games, politics, and sports. I dislike brussel sprouts and […]
Gerrymandering is a complex and abstract topic, but it is extremely relevant if you’re learning about government and politics today. Thankfully, there are some great resources out there to help you teach gerrymandering, like Mapmaker: the Gerrymandering Game. Mapmaker: the Gerrymandering Game is great strategy game, and it’s based on the concepts involved in gerrymandering. […]
Mapmaker: The Gerrymandering Game is a simple, thoughtful, and strategic board game. It also happens to be educational, too, but that’s just an added benefit. I saw this game on the shelf at the mall a few weeks ago, and it immediately caught my eye. It got me thinking about what other board games are […]
Note: This review is not yet complete. This post will be updated with more information, once I’ve had a chance to play it through a few times and thoroughly review it. The Contender is a great party game to play with your friends. Topically, it’s a civics game patterned after Presidential debates. Conceptually, it’s a […]
One great way to make learning civics more fun is to use game based learning. Here’s a list of eight political board games about civics and government – some of which make great classroom tools – that could help you do that. I’ll run through the list of each of the eight civics board games […]