Explore 7 Age of Exploration review games designed by a teacher to engage students and reinforce curriculum. When students are having fun, they forget they are reviewing, making games a great way to practice Social Studies.

• In GRUDGEBALL, teams answer questions to fire on their opponents’ ships, then make baskets to earn even more shots.
• The BIG TERRIBLE Game keeps the whole class involved as up to eight teams answer together and watch their scores swing above and below zero.
• The TERRIBLE Game makes review wonderfully terrible as teams answer questions, uncover unpredictable scores, and use positive and negative points to get closest to zero.
• In FRAZZLED, teams answer questions to uncover mystery points, but one wrong answer or unlucky bomb can completely change the game.
• Get students moving with SCOOT, where they travel from desk to desk answering task cards and recording their answers along the way.
• BUMP gets teams racing to answer correctly, then gives them a chance to score points by knocking other teams off the platform.
• TRASHKETBALL™ gets teams racing to answer correctly, then rewards them with shots at the trash can to score points.

When it’s time to review, a little competition can go a long way toward getting students focused, participating, and having fun. You’ll see students lean into the questions, debate answers with their teammates, and hang on every result as the game unfolds. Just like a team practices before a big game, students who know another review game is coming have a reason to prepare, because this time they really want to win.

Games may feel like fun to students, but research shows they can be serious learning tools, with measurable benefits for achievement, retention, and engagement. See the research.