I’ve been looking for some new word games to play with my toddler to help her with reading.
I started by making a list of games I wanted to try and then I thought I might as well share it on brillkids.
So,here is a list of some of my ideas and some of other peoples ideas found along the way.
Please feel free to add your own word game below.
Remember these are games so they should be fun and not forced.
If the child is not having fun then stop.
WORD GAMES
Write different looking words onto stickers and stick them all around the house and out in the garden. Keep them in lower case and clearly written. Point them out to your child as you go about your day and soon enough they will point them out to you.
Extend on this by making a phrase out of those words eg ‘table’ can become ‘little table’ or ‘big table’, ‘door’ becomes ‘open door’, ‘ball’ becomes ‘yellow ball’
Have the child drive a toy car from written word to written word as you read them to the child.
Write words on their toy blocks and make phrases out of them.
Use a recent interesting family photo and start a written story in a scrap book eg a picture of the family dog wearing a hat and glasses. First write the word “dog” then a week later add “dog has a hat” then a week or more later “dog has a blue hat” “dog has blue hat and glasses” have at least five photos to start with and keep adding photos as you go. Think of the end sentence before you start tho so you have a bit of a plan for each photo.
Show words when you go out into town no matter how hard they look. Read the words that your child shows interest in.
Write words in the sand at the beach, sandpit anywhere.
Make a photo book of their favourite teddy going on an adventure in house and the garden, add words that they are learning. Make it match what the child will see everyday. Eg teddy go to the door, teddy wears big shoes, teddy is brushing his teeth etc
Keep writing new words frequently for your child.
Go to the library frequently, allow your child to pick their own books. Find books with words spaced far apart or have fewer words per page. Point as you read the words, guide your child’s finger under the words.
When reading a book together and you come across a word you know; your child can say or sign then pause and give the child time to show you that they know the word. Ask them what the word is.Read the book together.
Add word stickers to your own books, change them to match your child’s interests at the time. If you use stickers you can always take them off again. Masking tape works really well for this also. eg the Spot books have quite big words and have quite simple pictures, you can make the pictures come more alive by adding other words next to the pictures and make them even more interesting for your child.
Have pictures of animals with the word of the animal on the back or on the front. Add valcro to the picture and to the childs bedroom wall so your child can pull them off and look at them and stick them back on whenever they want. Later they could even try and make their own story with words and pictures.
Use sign language with the written word, the child may sign the written word before they can say the word.
Play matching games, have your child match two or three phrases with correct objects eg ‘red shirt’ ‘blue shirt’ ‘green shorts’ ‘yellow shorts’ place randomly on floor and have your child match them. Start small with words you think your child knows and build up.
Teach phonics, show your child the letter B and say “buh” show five words/pictures starting with B and emphasize the “buh” sound for each word. Stick it to the bedroom wall to remind you to do it, change them around every now and again.
Write words your child has never seen before eg “yesterday” “laptop”. Ask your child “what word says laptop” if your child points to “yesterday” don’t tell them they are wrong just say something like “this word is yesterday…” pointing at yesterday " …and this word is laptop" repeat this several times with different words but make sure it is fun and not like you are testing them.
If they are not enjoying, then stop.
Write down words from the same phonetic family ‘hat, cat, sat, that’ read each word aloud as you point to it. Then add a different word like “bat” and ask your child to try and read that word. Repeat this game with several other word families eg ‘it’ and ‘an’
What other word games have parents used? Please share
