Browsing YouTube for good educational videos takes forever. So many videos seem great at first. Then you notice an incorrect fact or a skewed point of view. It can be so frustrating!
I’ve done the work for you. I watched countless videos so you don’t have to. My goal is to find videos that are both educational and entertaining. Here are my 5 favorite videos for teaching students about the 13 Colonies.
Tips for Teaching with Videos
Videos are one of the most powerful tools in a history teacher’s toolkit. But a few small moves can make a big difference in how much students actually retain.
Preview before you play.
Always watch a video before showing it to students. Check for accuracy, pacing, and anything that might need context.
Give students a focus.
Don’t just press play. Give students one or two questions to think about while they watch. It keeps them engaged and gives the video a purpose.
Pause and discuss.
You don’t have to show a video straight through. Pausing at key moments to ask questions is often more effective than watching the whole thing at once.
Use videos strategically.
A short video works great as an anticipatory set to kick off a lesson. A longer one fits better mid-unit, once students already have some background knowledge.
Check the rating notes below.
Each video below includes my recommended age range and any content notes to be aware of. A quick heads-up can save you a headache later!
Want a complete, done-for-you 13 Colonies unit to go alongside these videos?
The 3-Week 13 Colonies Unit has 15 step-by-step lesson plans covering all three colonial regions. Each lesson includes everything you need: articles, worksheets, activities, and answer keys. No extra planning required.
Click here to check out the 13 Colonies Unit!
13 Colonies Videos for Students
Now, let’s get to the videos! Below you’ll find my 5 favorite 13 Colonies videos, along with tips for how to use each one in your classroom.
Video 1: Thirteen Colonies – 3 Part Video Series (MrZoller)
40 minutes total (3 videos, 11 to 14 minutes each) | Recommended age: 10+
Video Description: Former 7th grade teacher Mr. Zoller created this three-part series covering the New England, Middle, and Southern Colonies. Each video goes deeper than a typical overview, walking students through the founders, economies, and daily life of each region. It moves at a comfortable pace, which makes it easy for students to take notes as they watch.
Classroom Tip: Use the free note-taking worksheet (download below!) to keep students focused. Assign one video per lesson rather than all three at once. Pausing to discuss after each region helps students process before moving on.
I designed a free note-taking worksheet to go along with Mr. Zoller’s videos. Download it by clicking the button below!
Video 2: The History of Colonial America (Flocabulary)
3.5 minutes | Recommended age: 8+
Video Description: This Hamilton-style rap covers all three colonial regions in just 3.5 minutes. It explains the economies, cultures, and reasons for colonization in a format students genuinely enjoy. It also makes a point that many textbooks gloss over: slavery existed in all of the colonies, not just the South.
Classroom tip: Show this video at the start of your unit as a preview, then revisit it at the end as a review. Ask students: what do you understand now that you didn’t the first time you watched?
Note: Flocabulary has additional resources to go with this video, but you’ll need to create a free account to access them.
Video 3: When is Thanksgiving? Colonizing America (Crash Course US History)
11.5 minutes | Recommended age: 12+ (brief discussion of tobacco and smoking)
Video Description: John Green covers the first permanent English colony at Jamestown, the Puritan settlements in Massachusetts, and the Catholic colony of Maryland. It’s fast-paced and witty, but packed with accurate content and great for building background knowledge. Two related follow-up videos are worth bookmarking too: The Natives and the English and The Quakers, the Dutch, and the Ladies.
Classroom Tip: Turn on subtitles and slow the speed to 0.75. Always preview Crash Course videos before showing them to students, as content varies across episodes.
Video 4: 13 Colonies Song – Queen’s “Somebody to Love” Parody (Mr. Bett’s Class)
3.5 minutes | Recommended age: 8+
Video Description: Mr. Betts set a review of the 13 Colonies to Queen’s “Somebody to Love,” and the result is exactly as fun as it sounds. The song covers why colonists came to the New World, the economies of each region, and even touches on slavery and mercantilism. Your students will be humming it for days.
Classroom Tip: Save this one for review day at the end of your unit. For a fun extension, challenge students to write their own verse about one colony, including its economy, founders, and reasons for settlement.
Video 5: Drawn History – The Founding of the 13 Colonies (History Channel)
1.5 minutes | Recommended age: 8+
Video Description: This short animated video from the History Channel races through the founding of all 13 Colonies, from Virginia to Georgia. It is fast and bare-bones, but that is exactly what makes it useful.
Classroom tip: This is a perfect anticipatory set. Show it at the very start of a lesson to give students a quick mental framework before you dive in. Follow it up by asking: which colony surprised you, and why?
Free 13 Colonies Timeline Lesson
Want a free lesson to go with these videos? This timeline activity is the perfect companion.
Students place the 13 Colonies in order of settlement on a timeline. They learn who founded each colony and why. Task cards get them up and out of their seats. A reflection sheet is included for early finishers.
Enter your email below to grab the free 13 Colonies Timeline lesson.
Want to teach the 13 Colonies without the hours of prep work?
Finding great videos is just the start. Planning a full 13 Colonies unit from scratch still 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. If you’d rather spend that energy on teaching, 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.
Week 2: The New England Colonies
Students explore the Mayflower and Plymouth Colony through articles and a timeline activity. They then analyze early American constitutions (including the Mayflower Compact) before writing their own. The week continues with a lesson on Puritan life, a study of the Salem Witch Trials, and a region review game.
Week 3: The Middle Colonies and Conclusion
Students act out two reader’s theater scripts about the history of New York. They participate in a hands-on colonial fur trading simulation. A research project on Quaker life rounds out the regional lessons. The unit wraps up with a comparing and contrasting activity across all three colonial regions.
Learn More About the 13 Colonies Unit
13 Colonies Activities & Lessons | Thirteen Colonies for 5th Grade – 8th Grade
13 colonies resources and timeline thanks