The students’ skill development is considered to be highly essential as well as their cognitive development in today’s world. Equipping individuals with the skills for the requirements of the 21st century is among the main objectives of education in many countries. In this regard, $21^{st}$ century skills have been defined by various institutions and organizations, and they have planned to be included in curricula for the development of those skills. The present study aimed to investigate the objectives in the social studies curriculum in Turkey in the academic year of 2019-2020 together with the activities and questions in the textbook in the context of 21st century skills. The data were obtained through document analysis technique and analysed through descriptive analysis in our study where qualitative research methodology was used. The documents examined within the scope of the study were the objectives in the social studies curriculum (for the $4^{th}, 5^{th}, 6^{th} and 7^{th}$ grades) and the activities and questions in social studies textbooks of MoNE (for the identical grades). As a result of the study, it was determined that the objectives, activities, and questions were aimed at developing a limited number of $21^{st}$ century skills. The objectives, activities, and questions were mostly found to serve the development of critical thinking and problem-solving skills. It was also concluded that the curriculum and the textbooks did not comprise the objectives, activities, and questions for the development of$21^{st}$ century skills such as flexibility and adaptability, leadership, and responsibility. In the light of research findings, it was recommended that social studies textbooks and curriculum should be enriched for the students’ development of$21^{st}$ century skills and should be inclusive in terms of 21st century skills