Vocabulary building is an important part of the overall growth of kids. It helps kids to develop skills to communicate, connect with the environment and converse with others. Teaching kids vocabulary at a younger age helps them in building strong language skills when they grow up.
According to research, if a child learns multiple words daily, they can learn 60,000 words until they finish high school. Development of vocabulary at early age help kids to “read comprehensively, write meaningfully and listen effectively.”
But how to do that is something every parent asks. Because building vocabulary in the right way is as important as building the vocabulary itself.
So here we are going to discuss 23 activities vocabulary building activities for kids that you can perform to enrich the vocabulary of your kids.
1. Building blocks
Blocks are many children’s favorite games. But you can spice it up and make it meaningful by using them for vocabulary building. Write letters on the blocks and ask your kids to build a word.
2. New word each day
Make a routine of learning the word of the day for your kids. Teach your kids at least one word every day and build curiosity in them to know and understand it.
3. Reading
Encourage your kids to read and explain each word. Do this one page or one paragraph a day. This will not only build the vocabulary of kids but also help them develop the habit of reading and improve your child’s English speaking skills.
4. Labelling items
Put on labels on items in the house and help your kids read and understand each item. Once kids have learnt to point out every item, remove the label and ask them to put on the labels this time.
5. Have conversations with kids
Speak to kids and encourage them to use new words while conversing. Use the words that you have taught them in your speech so that kids too can learn to use them. Moreover, a regular conversation that includes words children learn every day helps them improve their memorizing power and pronunciation.
6. Word puzzles
This game is suitable for kids who have learnt a good amount of words. Start the puzzle with the words kids know already. This will strengthen their memory power and help to sustain the word in their minds. Moreover, once you have played with known words for some time, start playing with new words so that vocabulary learning becomes a fun affair.
7. Word hunting
Make a square grid and hide words in it. Then ask your kids to find the words they have learnt so far. You can also provide your kids with reading materials with underlined new words and ask them to find the same in the square grid. If your kids are younger, you can also do this activity by asking your child to find words from nursery rhymes. You can write or say the lyrics of the rhymes and ask your child to find particular words or find new words for which they don’t know the meaning.
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8. Name, place, animal and thing
Play this classic game with your kids to develop their vocabulary. Ask them to write names of people, places, animals and things. This will help your kids relate words with meanings and hence enhance their vocabulary skills. Moreover, through writing games, children can enhance their written vocabulary skills too.
9. Countdown
This is a very interesting game for kids to develop their vocabulary. Ask your kids to write at least 9 letters on a sheet. And then ask them to find as many words in the nine letters as possible. This will improve your kids’ creativity and help them recall words they have learnt so far. You can also help them learn new words by spotting words yourself.
10. I spy
This is an interesting activity to help kids connect with the environment while simultaneously learning vocabulary. Spread a few things in front of them or spot anything around them and ask them to tell the beginning letter or the name of the thing or its colour.
11. Finding words in long words
Write a long word on a sheet and ask your kids to spot small words hidden in it. For example, write ELEPHANT and ask your kids to find words like Ant, Pan, Hat and more.
12. Sketchnotes
This activity will help kids to imagine or visualize the words they learn. It is a very simple activity in which you have to ask your kids to draw sketches of the word they have learnt rather than just spelling it or spotting it.
13. Bumper words
This game is good for kids who have learnt a good amount of words. In this game, create boxes of similar words and add one antonym. Leave one space empty to add a word in each box except the first one. Then ask kids to spot the antonym and fill in the space in the next box that has words of similar meaning as the odd antonym.
14. Describing characters in the book
There is another vocabulary building activities for kids that can be performed through reading books. Ask your kids to describe the characters of the book- their thoughts, feelings and actions-using different words
15. Categories
Choose a category of words like fruits, vegetables, toys, music, etc. and then ask your kids to make a long list of words that belong to the category. This will help kids not only learn words but also understand their meaning and context. You can also use flashcards for the activity to boost your child’s vocabulary.
16. Riddles
This activity will help your kids to improve their adjectives and verbs. Ask your child to close their eyes while you pick up one object and hide it from them. Then describe the object in the form of riddles that include adjectives and verbs related to the objects and ask kids to guess the name of the object. Then ask the kids too to form riddles and ask you to identify another object.
17. Odd one out
In this game, choose a category of words and say 5-6 words belonging to the category except one and ask your kids to name that odd word. And also ask them to tell the category to which the odd word belongs.
18. Action Jackson
Pick up an animal, person or object and ask your kids what the object does. For example, the word you chose is a jug. Then ask kids what is jug used for and kids will be able to imagine and relate words with verbs and describe the object.
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19. Thrive while you drive
Play this game while you are taking your kids for a drive or a walk. Ask them to name things that they see like trees, benches, people, children etc. This game will help kids to think, identify and relate words with meanings or things.
20. Make up a story
This is one of the traditional vocabulary building activities for kids that is often taught in schools. In this interesting game make up a story by saying the starting line. Then encourage the kids to add lines to the story which will not only develop their vocabulary but their creativity too.
21. Roll a word
In this fun activity, kids will have to roll a dice for a vocabulary and do the activity that has been assigned to the number they land on. For example, your kid rolls a dice for the word ‘play’ and lands on number two which has been assigned with the task of writing a sentence using the word.
22. Ice cream scoop for words of multiple meaning
This game will help kids understand that a word has multiple meanings based on its usage in language. You can do this activity at home by paper cutting cone and scoop shapes, writing a word on the cone and writing different definitions of the words on the scoops. Then ask your kid to match the words on the cones with their multiple meanings on the scoop.
23. Pop the balloon
Children love stories. So in this game use stories to build their vocabulary. Pick up a story that your kid loves and make strips of the events in the story. Put each strip in a balloon and mix them up. Then ask your kids to pop each balloon and arrange the strips according to the sequence of the stories.
Teaching vocabulary to kids can be tough and boring. But if you play the games pointed out above, kids will definitely fall in love with words. Let us know in the comments below what are some other vocabulary building activities for kids that your child enjoys.
Before you go, here are a few posts you will enjoy:
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