Lego Challenge Activity: Build and Learn the 50 States

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We have a full-blown Lego obsession in our house. It began when our oldest son turned five, and got his heart set on a Batman Lego set he saw in the store. He had never put a set together before, and I was worried it might have been a little challenging for him. Still, we purchased it for his birthday and our floors have never again been the same.

(If you’re curious, here’s the set that started it all. He could probably sell it now for a pretty penny, but I doubt we could find all the pieces!).

I’m guessing many of you can relate! Not only does my son still love building with Lego, but my twin daughters and our toddler get in on the action too. I’m always amazed at their creations, and even at all of the ways Lego has enhanced their learning.

And since my kids will take any excuse to add Lego into our homeschooling, I thought it might be fun to incorporate a little Lego challenge in our studies about the 50 states. I’ve got an easy printable to share with you that will help your kids gather and learn information about each of the states, plus a great way to bring Lego into their learning.

Build and learn about the 50 states with this printable Lego challenge activity.

Learning about the 50 States

The Lego challenge will get your hands-on learners excited about your geography studies this year! In addition to this printable activity, here are a few things we used to enhance our studies of the 50 states.

If you’re studying the states this year in your homeschool, you’ll want to check these resources out (they’re all kid-approved!).

YouTube Videos

We found these US States Videos for Kids from Homeschool Pop very engaging, and my kids loved beginning our lesson about each state by watching them.

Each video is less than 10 minutes long (all 50 states have their own video), and covers key information about each state.

Cooking Through the 50 States

I purchased Eat Your Way Through the USA at the beginning of our homeschool year, and it was a hit! This book is great because it gives recipes for an entire meal for all 50 states (and the District of Columbia) – including entrees, sides, and desserts. And we loved reading the “food facts” included about each state.

My kids took turns helping me prepare a fun meal for each state we learned about. We certainly did not get through them all – some weeks we were just too busy to prep and prepare the meals – but we had fun trying! It gave me an excuse to slow down and work with my kids on some “kitchen skills”, along with learning about influences from each geographical area on their popular menu items.

Board Games

If your kids love board games, they can be such a fun way to help cement what you are learning.

One that we picked up during our 50 states study was the Scrambled States of America. This is a fun, easy game, and helped give my kids an introduction to each state’s name, nickname, capital, and geographical location.

There are many options, so pick one or two your kids will love to try based on your goals for their learning.

Other Resources

Here are a few other resources that might be helpful to you in your own studies of the 50 states this year:

United States Map – Our curriculum we purchased came with a U.S. map and a sticker for each state. Every time we learned a new state, we put the sticker up. Here is a fun alternative (your kids can scratch off each state when you learn it!).

State Flag Facts – I love this State Flags Unit from Homeschool Giveaways. It includes worksheets and information about each of the state flags that makes it really easy to teach them to your kids!

State Exploration Printable

Now, onto the free printable I have for you!

The first page is your fact sheet that you will print off each time you learn a new state. Your child will research to learn the information about the state of the day or week, and record it on the handout.

They might learn the information while watching a YouTube video, visiting a website or reading a book about the states, or even playing one of the games shared above. It’s totally up to you and your kids, and how they best learn information.

For each state, they’ll research and learn:

Basic facts about the state. This includes the year the state was established, the state capital, abbreviation, and population.

Famous landmarks and flowers. They’ll get to draw a picture of each of these (they’ll also get to draw a picture of the shape of the state).

Fun facts about the state. Statehood, nickname, time zone, region, state tree, and state song.

You can decide at what pace you want to learn about the states, but I recommend spreading them out during the year and really digging in to 1-2 per week.

Lego Challenge Cards

There are 8 Lego Challenge Cards included with this printable.

I recommend printing them on cardstock, or better yet, laminate them before cutting them out. You’ll be using them all year, so you want them to be durable!

Each time you learn about a new state, let your child select a card at random for their “State Lego Challenge”. The challenges include things like shape of the state or famous landmark of the state. They will have to go to work creating that item with their Lego!

It’s such a simple, fun, and effective way to wrap up your learning about each of the 50 states. Grab your copy of the printable below when you join my newsletter list. No pressure – you can unsubscribe anytime (but I sure hope you don’t!).

I’d love to hear about any other resources you have used and loved to teach information about the 50 states to your kids! Drop them in the comments below.

And if you like this printable, make sure to check out my other 50 states worksheets available in my shop:

50 States Fill-in-the-Blank Worksheets
States & Capitals Workbook

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Lego Challenge Activity: Build and Learn the 50 States