Fun Word Games for Children
Children begin to develop language skills at an early age. According to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, "The development of communication skills begins in infancy, before the emergence of the first word." To help your children learn their words, play games with them. These can be as easy as a yes/no game or as involved as a full Scrabble game.
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Tongue Twisters
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Mom and daughter saying tongue twisters. Tongue twisters can be done anywhere and are likely to cause giggles by anyone saying or hearing them. Here are a few examples:
How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
He would chuck, he would, as much as he could, and chuck as much as a woodchuck would if a woodchuck could chuck wood.Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
Did Peter Piper pick a peck of pickled peppers?
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?She sells seashells by the seashore.
Who knew you knew Sue?
Sue knew you knew Sue.
Rhyming Games
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Take turns rhyming with your kids. Explain how rhyming words sound alike but are not the same word. Give examples such as, "I say the word feet, and some words that rhyme with feet are neat, heat, seat and beat. Listen how the words have a similar basic sound but are not the same?" Then take turns rhyming. You can start and then have each child say a word that rhymes with your word. Do this until you run out of rhyming words. The person who said the last word can start with a new word.
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Paper Games
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Crossword puzzles can be done anywhere. These are good word game activities for quiet times, road trips, rainy days and waiting rooms. Whether you create them, download and print them or buy books, crosswords, word searches, hangman and palindromes (phrases or words that are exactly the same when read either way) are enjoyable ways to pass the time and increase your word skills.
Board Games and Table Games
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Scabble encourages expanding vocabularies. There are several board games you can play with your children to help increase their word skills. For younger children, you can play matching games, such as matching letters to objects that begin with that letter or small words that match an object. For the older kids, you can play Boggle or Scrabble.
Games on the Go
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Play these easy games to pass the time or just get a few laughs. One of them is the yes/no game. All you do is ask a question that must be answered with a "yes" or "no." These can be silly, such as "Do you like to eat slimy worms for lunch?" or they can be realistic, such as "Is your name Sally?" Take turns asking questions and providing answers. Another easy game is the opposite (antonym) or same (synonym) game. You say one word and ask your child to provide the antonym or synonym.
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References
- Photo Credit boys talking image by sonya etchison from Fotolia.com Mother and daughter talking image by Courtney Keating from Fotolia.com Crossword Puzzle image by Gramper from Fotolia.com scrabble about image by Bionic Media from Fotolia.com
