California Cities
Find California's big cities, its capital and the right county on the map.
California Cities is a map game made for California students. The child sees the state with cities marked by letters or dots and learns where places like Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Fresno and the capital, Sacramento, really sit. Cities from Crescent City in the far north to El Centro near Mexico appear along the way.
Besides naming cities, the child picks the county a city is in, taps the right dot when given a city name, and decides which of two or three cities is farther north or south. Every question is about California only, so the game suits a unit on the geography of the state.
What children practice
- Name big California cities from a lettered marker on the map
- Know that Sacramento is the capital of California
- Match a city to the county it is in
- Tap a named city on a map of California
- Tell which city is farther north or south
- Describe where a city sits, such as the coast or the Central Valley
Levels
- Level 1: Big cities
- Level 2: The capital
- Level 3: Which county?
- Level 4: Tap the city
- Level 5: North or south
- Level 6: Mixed review
How it works
- Level 1 starts with six big cities, each marked by a letter on the map.
- Later levels add the capital, county questions, a tap-the-dot round and north or south comparisons.
- Level 6 mixes everything, and each right answer comes with a line about where the city is.
- Questions can be read aloud with the speaker button, and a wrong answer lets the child try again.
Best for: A good fit for grades 3 to 8 when a class is studying California geography or a child is new to the map of the state.
Tip for parents: On your next drive, or when you look at a weather map, ask whether a city is north or south of where you are. Comparing real places makes the north and south questions easier.
Questions parents ask
Does California Cities cover every city in the state?
No. It uses about forty well known cities, from Los Angeles and San Jose to smaller places such as Yreka and Bishop. The goal is to build a mental map of the state, not to memorize every town.
Why are some cities never asked about by county?
A city is only asked about in a county when its dot sits well inside that county's outline on the map. Cities on a county line or at the shore are left out of those questions so each answer is clear.
Is this useful outside California?
The habits of reading a map and using north and south carry over, but the content is all California. Families in other states may prefer State Finder or State Capitals, which cover the whole country.
Ready to try it?
California Cities is free with a parent account. A parent adds a child profile, and the child's progress is saved.