In a world of endless screen time, the battle to get kids engaged in something—anything—educational can feel like an uphill climb. But what if you could harness that screen time and turn it into a thrilling global adventure? Geography doesn’t have to be about memorizing dusty maps and drab lists of state capitals. It can be an exciting journey of discovery, a real-life detective story, and a way to understand the vast, beautiful, and complex world we live in.

From deserts and rainforests (physical geography) to the cultures and cities that dot the globe (human geography), a strong sense of place gives children context for history, current events, and science. So, let’s ditch the flashcards and fire up the fun! Here are five parent-approved games and activities that will get your kids excited to explore our planet.

1. The Digital Puzzle Master: Seterra

Before you can run, you have to walk. And before you can become a geography whiz, you need to know where things are! Seterra is the ultimate digital tool for building that foundational knowledge. At its core, it’s a map quiz game, but its sheer variety and accessibility make it an absolute must-have.

Seterra offers over 400 free map quizzes in 40 different languages. Your child can start with the basics, like identifying the continents, and then progress to locating every single country in Africa, naming the states of Brazil, or pinpointing the major rivers of Asia. The game is simple and intuitive: a name appears, and you click on the correct location on the map. It’s a fantastic way to build a mental map of the world, piece by piece.

What They’ll Learn:

• Political Geography: Countries, continents, states, and provinces.
• Capitals and Major Cities: A crucial component of world knowledge.
• Physical Geography: Quizzes on mountain ranges, oceans, volcanoes, deserts, and islands.
• Flags: A fun and colorful way to learn about national identity.

2. The World Explorer: GeoGuessr

If Seterra builds the map, GeoGuessr brings it to life. This celebrated web-based game drops your child into a random Google Street View location somewhere on Earth. The mission? To figure out where in the world they are by exploring their surroundings. It’s a masterclass in observation and deductive reasoning.

Are the road signs in Spanish or Portuguese? Is the vegetation lush and tropical or dry and arid? Are people driving on the left or the right side of the road? Every detail is a clue. Your child will learn to identify scripts (like Cyrillic or Thai), recognize architectural styles, and even use the position of the sun to get a hint about the hemisphere. After looking for clues, they make a guess by placing a pin on a world map. The closer they are, the more points they get. It’s a truly immersive experience that teaches geography in the context of the real world.

What They’ll Learn:

• Human Geography: Language, architecture, infrastructure (road signs, types of cars), and culture.
• Physical Geography: Biomes, climates, landforms, and vegetation.
• Problem-Solving: Using clues and logic to deduce a location.
• Map Skills: Translating their 3D surroundings to a 2D map.

3. The Family Game Night Champion: Ticket to Ride

Let’s take a break from the screen and gather around the table for a modern classic. Ticket to Ride may not seem like an overt geography game, but it’s a brilliant and subtle teacher. In this board game, players collect train car cards to claim railway routes connecting cities across a continent.

Whether you’re playing on the map of North America, Europe, or Asia, the gameplay constantly forces players to think geographically. To complete a Destination Ticket from Vancouver to Montréal, a child has to trace a viable path across Canada, learning the relative locations of cities like Calgary, Winnipeg, and Toronto along the way. They develop a spatial awareness of distances and the major population centers of a region, all while participating in some friendly family competition.

What They’ll Learn:

• Spatial Awareness: Understanding the relative location of major cities.
• Continent-Specific Geography: Deep familiarity with the geography of North America, Europe, or other regions depending on the version.
• Strategic Planning: A great bonus skill that requires thinking several moves ahead.

4. The Global Gumshoe: Where on Google Earth is Carmen Sandiego?

The world’s most famous super-thief is back, and she’s teamed up with Google Earth to create a fantastic series of games that are a perfect blend of fun and learning. In Where on Google Earth is Carmen Sandiego?, kids take on the role of an ACME detective hot on Carmen’s trail.

The game starts with a crime, and you travel from city to city, interviewing witnesses. Each witness gives you a clue about Carmen’s next destination, often related to a famous landmark, cultural fact, or geographical feature. For example, a witness in Tokyo might say, “She mentioned wanting to see the world’s most famous Art Deco statue of Christ!” Your little detective then flies to Rio de Janeiro using the incredible 3D imagery of Google Earth. It’s a narrative-driven adventure that makes learning about world cultures and landmarks feel like solving a mystery.

What They’ll Learn:

• World Landmarks & Cities: Explore iconic sites like the Eiffel Tower, the Pyramids of Giza, and the Sydney Opera House in stunning 3D.
• Cultural Geography: Learn facts about local food, music, currency, and history.
• Deductive Reasoning: Piecing together clues to track Carmen across the globe.

5. The Trivia Whiz: Stack the Countries

For kids who love collecting facts and a bit of quirky fun, Stack the Countries is a fantastic app. The game presents players with trivia questions about countries. For every correct answer, you get to drop the shape of that country onto a platform. The goal is to stack the country shapes until they reach a certain height, at which point you earn a random country for your collection.

The questions cover a wide range of topics—capitals, landmarks, major cities, neighbors, and more. The stacking mechanic is surprisingly addictive, turning rote memorization into a fun physics-based puzzle. As kids play, they unlock new games like “Map It!” and “Pile Up!”, keeping the experience fresh and reinforcing the knowledge in different ways.

What They’ll Learn:

• Country Facts: Capitals, populations, flags, landmarks, and geographic location.
• Country Shapes: A unique feature that helps kids recognize countries visually.
• Fast Recall: The quick-fire nature of the game builds confidence and speed.

Beyond the Games: Making Geography Stick

The best part about these games is that they spark curiosity. Use that spark to explore even further. Did your game of Ticket to Ride end in Miami? Look up pictures of the Florida Everglades. Did GeoGuessr drop you in rural Mongolia? Watch a YouTube video about nomadic life. When you connect these digital experiences to the real world, you’re not just teaching geography—you’re raising a curious, informed, and engaged global citizen, one game at a time.