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A Fun Poem That Teaches Kids The Names Of All 50 States
This one could help you, too, if it’s been a while since you had those middle-school geography lessons
Are you taking the kids on a long-postposed car trip now that pandemic restrictions are easing? Are you wondering how to have fun on the road after you’ve exhausted your store of license-plate or “I Spy” games and everyone in the back seat has spent too much time on an iPad?
You might take along a copy of Judith Viorst’s jaunty poem “Someday Someone Will Bet That You Can’t Name All Fifty States,” which teaches you how to win the dare in its title. It begins:
California, Mississippi,
North and South Dakota.
New York, Jersey, Mexico, and
Hampshire. Minnesota.
The poem goes in the same vein to name all the other states except for a final one that the kids or others will have to guess. Spoiler: It’s Kansas.
You and your passengers could take turns reciting lines from the poem, or memorize it so that — when you arrive at your destination — you can astonish the grandparents with what you’ve learned en route.
