Memorizing The US States Fast

Do you have a map test coming up and need to learn the 50 states quickly? Don’t worry—there are plenty of tips and tricks to make it easier!

The best tip in this Youtube video by Nelson Dellis is the use of mnemonics and visual associations to memorize all 50 U.S. states. Nelson breaks the map into regions and uses memorable stories and patterns to link state names to their locations. For example:

1. “Can’t” mnemonic: For southern border states – California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas.
2. “Knuck” mnemonic: For states like Nevada, Utah, Colorado, and Kansas, imagining a duck knocking to get past the border.
3. Visual shapes: Associating state shapes with objects or letters, such as Oklahoma as a meat cleaver, Idaho as a lowercase “i,” and Montana as mountains.
4. Storytelling: Grouping states into humorous or imaginative scenarios, such as a chef (Mr. MIMAL) to represent Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, and Louisiana.

These creative connections make the state names and locations easier to recall by turning abstract geography into fun and vivid mental images.

Tour The States Video

If you need to learn both the states and their capitals, the engaging video Tour the States could be a great resource. In the video, the presenter draws a map and adds symbols for each state along with its capital. Once you’ve memorized the catchy lyrics, you’ll know all 50 state capitals by heart!

Easily Memorize The 50 States Video

The video titled Easily Memorize the 50 States provides a creative and visual method to help memorize the U.S. states. The presenter, Eric from the Eric the Elephant YouTube channel, adapts and expands on a method he learned, using mnemonic devices and visual cues based on the shapes and positions of the states on a map, similar to Nelson’s video. Here’s a summary of his approach:

1. Regional Mnemonics:
   • Starts with the southern border states using “can’t” for California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas.
   • Uses “nuck” (Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Kansas) and a “K column” for North DaKota, South DaKota, NebrasKa, Kansas, and OKlahoma.
2. Shapes and Imagery:
   • Washington and Oregon are remembered as “wo” (afraid to walk off the map into the ocean).
   • Idaho as a lowercase “i”; Montana as an upside-down “M” resembling mountain ranges.
   • Wyoming is personified as “why would you forget about me” (a forgotten state).
   • Minnesota becomes “Minnie Mouse,” and neighboring states are linked as “MIMAL” (Minnesota , Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana).
3. Great Lakes Region:
   • States around the Great Lakes (Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania) are linked to water and the concept of “mopping”. WII MOP? Because there is a lot of water in the lakes!
4. East Coast:
   • Uses shapes and features to remember New England states, like a massive hook for Massachusetts and a “y” for New York, h for New Hampshire and V for Vermont.
   • Rhode Island is small because islands are generally small.
   • Connecticut connects Rhose Island and New York.
   • New Jersey looks like a capital J
   • Maryland is associated with water and happiness. They are “merry” because they have so much water.
   • Virginia is an upside-down “V,” and West Virginia is west of it.
5. Southern States:
   • Kentucky is imagined as a drumstick (Kentucky Fried Chicken).
   • Tennessee is a “long gun barrel”, and more than ten people have guns there, with Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia as the MAGazine below for loading it.
6. Final States:
   • North Carolina and South Carolina resemble a “C.”
   • Florida is a backward “F.”
   • Alaska is a lowercase “a.”
   • Hawaii is remembered as “Hi Hawaii” because it’s far off the map.

The video uses humor, imagination, and repetition to create memorable associations for each state, making it easier to learn and recall them.

Testing Your Knowledge

Test your knowledge of all the states with our US Map Quiz. If you’d like, you can focus on the states east of the Mississippi or the states west of the Mississippi, or the state capitals.