Bringing Games into Social Studies
- Megan Sutherland
- Oct 26, 2025
- 2 min read
Updated: Jan 13
It's 1995, you’re sitting in math class, and you just got a new pair of wheelies! Life is pretty good because in 15 minutes it's computer time and you know what that means.... The Oregon Trail!
You know the one I’m talking about. The one where you have to hunt, ford rivers, and face insurmountable danger like a broken axle or dysentery (who has the funeral song playing in their head right now?)
It's been almost 30 years, and you still remember the game! That’s because it was fun, exciting, and you created an emotional connection to history through this game. Games have power with our students. So we should leverage them for learning (just like our teachers did)!
That’s what I’ve tried to do in my classroom!
I started by trying to recreate the Oregon Trail game with my own fun TPT twist. What ended up is a game that is really hard to win, and students LOVE it! So do teachers, see what a few of them have said about this Pioneer Trail Game:
"My students absolutely loved this! It was a great game to use when discussing pioneers and brought me back to playing the Oregon Trail!"
"Exactly as advertised and ready to go from download. The kids learned and had lots of fun at the same time. It was a big hit. I created some more cards to go with it and adapted the board to make it two pages and laminated together - just like to add my own bit of flare to resources I use, product was quite well done exactly the way it was. Highly recommend. I had 70 kids from first through teens playing in small groups."
"I run a homeschool book club for all ages. They got very excited during this game. Lots of laughs. Kids loved it. Thank you!"
After seeing how much my students (and other teachers' students) loved it, I created more social studies games. These are so fun to use as enrichment, fast finishers, end-of-unit activities, or to sneak in when there’s not a ton of time for social studies.
Check out the ones I’ve made below. If there’s a topic I haven’t made a game for that you’re interested in, drop a comment, and I can make one!
Take on the Pioneer Trail and reach your destination with enough supplies in 10 turns!
Strategize with your classmates to get a brigade of mountain men to the rendezvous before winter hits!
Work together to establish a permanent settlement despite the many hardships and the challenges your group faces.
Survive weather, danger, and difficulties as you hunt and forage for food! Gather as much as you can to win!
Your students will love this classic Bingo game!
Identify different producers and consumers in your community while trying to get to the end first!
Let’s make social studies fun together!
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