You spent time finding the perfect map. You pulled it up on the projector. And then… crickets. If your students have ever stared blankly at a historical map with no idea where to start, you’re not alone. Maps are one of the most powerful tools for teaching history! But only when students know how to read them.
Before you download these 5 free 13 Colonies maps, here are my best tips for making sure that doesn’t happen in your classroom.
Tips for Analyzing 13 Colonies Maps with Students
First, use online maps.
Historical maps are often packed with tiny details that are hard to see on a printed page. Viewing them online lets students zoom in and explore at their own pace. Before diving in, I recommend a quick mini-lesson showing students how to make the map full-screen, zoom in and out, and navigate around — it makes a bigger difference than you’d think.
Since your students will be using a computer or tablet, I’ve formatted all the worksheets in Google Slides so everything is easy to access in one place.
Second, teach basic map skills first.
The worksheets assume students are familiar with a few key map terms. Before analyzing any of the maps, make sure your students understand compass roses, legends, and scales. These short videos are a great starting point:
Third, analyze maps step by step.
Putting a map in front of students and asking “What does this tell you?” is a recipe for blank stares. Instead, I’ve found it helps to walk students through the process in stages: first observe the map, then make sense of what they’re seeing, and finally use it as historical evidence.
To support this, I’ve paired all 5 maps with the “Analyze a Map” worksheet from the National Archives — a great resource that naturally breaks the process into those manageable pieces.
Finally, stick to one map per lesson.
The Google Slides presentation includes all five maps in one place for your convenience, but I’d strongly recommend against analyzing them all at once. One map per lesson gives students the time they need to really dig in.
To do this, make a copy of the presentation and delete all the slides except for the map and worksheet you plan to use that day.
Want a complete, done-for-you 13 Colonies unit to go alongside these maps?
The 3-Week 13 Colonies Unit has 15 step-by-step lesson plans covering all three colonial regions (the Southern Colonies, New England, and the Middle Colonies). Each lesson comes with everything you need: articles, worksheets, activities, and answer keys. No extra planning required.
Click here to check out the 13 Colonies Unit!
Free Thirteen Colonies Maps for Kids
Now, let’s get to the maps! Below you’ll find five of my favorite 13 Colonies maps, along with tips for how to use each one and worksheets to help students analyze them.
Map 1: Thirteen Colonies of North America
Description
This map shows all 13 British colonies in North America, color-coded by region — dark red for the New England Colonies, bright red for the Middle Colonies, and red-brown for the Southern Colonies. Major cities, rivers, and lakes are also clearly marked. (Map credit: Richard Zietz, CC BY-SA 3.0)
Why I Chose This Map
This is a great starting point for any 13 Colonies unit. The clear labels and color-coding make it easy for students to see the big picture — where the colonies were and how they were grouped. After studying it, you could ask students to fill in a blank map of the 13 Colonies.
Example lesson focus
Where were the 13 Colonies located? What were the three regions of British America?
Map 2: Growth of Colonial Settlement
Description
This National Geographic map traces early European settlement along the eastern coast of North America. Settlement began around the Chesapeake Bay and the Northeast, then gradually pushed south and west toward the Appalachian Mountains over the course of a century.
Why I Chose This Map
Rather than showing the colonies as a finished product, this map shows how they developed over time. It helps students understand that colonial America wasn’t built overnight, and raises great questions about why settlers moved where they did.
Example Lesson Focus
Where did colonists settle between 1660 and 1760? What patterns do you notice?
Map 3: Colonial Trade Routes and Goods
Description
This National Geographic map shows the trade routes that connected the colonies to Britain and the wider Atlantic world. The colonial economy depended on international trade. American ships carried goods like lumber, tobacco, rice, and dried fish to Britain, while the mother country sent back textiles and manufactured goods in return.
Why I Chose This Map
This map is a powerful one. It helps students understand how the colonies fit into a larger economic system; and it’s also one of the clearest visuals I’ve found for introducing students to the Atlantic slave trade.
Example Lesson Focus
What did the 13 Colonies import and export? Who benefited from colonial trade, and who didn’t?
Map 4: New England Colonies in 1677
Description
This National Geographic map zooms in on the Massachusetts area in 1677. It shows how Massachusetts was made up of Plymouth Colony and Massachusetts Bay Colony, along with New Hampshire, Maine, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket. It also shows that Connecticut and Rhode Island were originally settled by people from Massachusetts.
Why I Chose This Map
When teaching about Plymouth Colony, the Salem Witch Trials, or Puritan life, it helps for students to have a clear sense of the geography. This close-up map is one I come back to again and again during the New England unit.
Example Lesson Focus
What colonies made up New England? Where were they located in relation to one another?
Map 5: Wampanoag Territory
Description
This National Geographic map shows the territory of the Wampanoag people in 1620. The Wampanoag were part of the larger Algonquian group of Native peoples. When the Pilgrims arrived and established Plymouth Colony, the Wampanoag and the English settlers had a complex relationship — one that included both cooperation and violent conflict.
Why I Chose This Map
It’s easy for students to think of the 13 Colonies as an empty canvas waiting to be filled in. This map pushes back on that idea. The Wampanoag had a well-established nation in what would become Massachusetts long before European settlers arrived, and this map makes that visible in a way that a textbook paragraph rarely does.
Example Lesson Focus
How would you describe the extent of Wampanoag territory? What does this map tell us about life in North America before the colonies were established?
Get the Free 13 Colonies Maps and Worksheets (Google Slides)
I hope these maps make your 13 Colonies lessons a little more engaging and your planning a little easier!
To help you hit the ground running, I’ve taken the “Analyze a Map” worksheet from the National Archives and formatted it with text boxes directly in Google Slides. Each map has its own slide with a link to the online version, so your students can zoom in and explore without any extra setup on your end.
Click here to get the free Google Slides.
Want to teach the 13 Colonies without the hours of prep work?
Even with great maps and free resources, planning a complete 13 Colonies unit from scratch takes serious time. The content spans three distinct colonial regions, the primary sources need context to land well, and keeping students engaged across three weeks requires real variety in activities. If you’d rather spend your energy on teaching rather than planning, here’s a ready-made solution.
The 3-Week 13 Colonies Unit gives you 15 complete, ready-to-teach lessons with everything included.
What’s Included
- 15 detailed lesson plans with step-by-step instructions
- Suggested pacing guide
- Complete answer keys for all student activities
- Editable end-of-unit test
- All student worksheets in one easy-print PDF
Unit Table of Contents
Week 1: The Southern Colonies
Students begin with an introduction to colonization, then move into a Jamestown Gallery Walk featuring primary source artifacts and posters. From there, they read about the history and daily life of the Southern Colonies, analyze primary sources, and wrap up the week with a review game to solidify what they’ve learned.
Week 2: The New England Colonies
Students explore the Mayflower and Plymouth Colony through articles and a timeline activity, then analyze early American constitutions (including the Mayflower Compact and the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut) before writing their own. The week continues with a lesson on Puritan life using historical artifacts, a study of the Salem Witch Trials, and another region review game.
Week 3: The Middle Colonies & Conclusion
Students act out two reader’s theater scripts about the history of New York, then participate in a hands-on simulation about colonial fur trading. A research and poster project on Quaker life rounds out the regional lessons, followed by a review game. The unit wraps up with a comparing and contrasting activity that asks students to synthesize what they’ve learned across all three colonial regions.
Learn More About the 13 Colonies Unit
13 Colonies Activities & Lessons | Thirteen Colonies for 5th Grade – 8th Grade
Do you have any units covering Reconstruction?