Could Your Students Survive the Oregon Trail?

Do you think your students would survive a trip down the Oregon Trail? Get them really excited by having them play a round or two of our Oregon Trail Board Game. During the game, students will answer questions about traveling the trail and experience some of the successes and challenges that pioneers experienced on their journey.

To play, students will roll a die and move their game marker along the trail, answering questions along the way. The gameboard is marked with symbols corresponding to cards listing events that may occur along the trail, some of which could help the pioneers and others that would hurt them. 

In order to retain their travel positions on each turn, students must answer questions about the pioneer journey to Oregon City. If they answer correctly, they retain their positions. If they answer incorrectly, they must complete a silly action, question, or response to maintain their positions.

This game is loud, fun, and extremely entertaining in the classroom! Students will beg to play it again and again. It is also printable in both color and black and white.

Through this activity, students will show their knowledge of American History during the time of the pioneer journey on the Oregon Trail.

Tips for Differentiation + Scaffolding 

A team of dedicated, experienced educators created this resource to support your U.S. History and Westward Expansion lessons. 

In addition to individual student work time, use this Social Studies game to enhance learning by printing multiple copies of the game and having the whole class play in small groups.

If you have a mixture of above and below-level learners, check out these suggestions for keeping students on track with the concepts: 

🆘 Support Struggling Students

Help students who need help understanding the concepts by providing them with notes to reference, or with read-aloud accommodations.

➕ Challenge Fast Finishers

Challenge your fast finishers to write new questions to add to the card decks. The more challenging, the better!

Plan lessons for all ability levels with our 10 Best Scaffolding Strategies! 

Easily Prepare This Resource for Your Students

Use the dropdown icon on the Download button to choose between the Color or Blackline versions of this resource. 

Print on cardstock for added durability and longevity. Place all pieces in a folder or large envelope for easy access. 

Don’t stop there! We’ve got more activities and resources that cut down on lesson planning time:  

teaching resource Bill of Rights Posters Describe the concepts related to the first ten amendments of the United States Constitution. teaching resource Explaining the Bill of Rights Organizer Describe the concepts related to the first ten amendments of the United States Constitution. teaching resource The History of Presidents' Day – Slide Deck Teach the origins of Presidents' Day and the Uniform Monday Holiday Act with an informational instructional slide deck.