Word games for young learners

Teaching vocabulary to preschoolers is not just about giving the definitions and some examples, but about creativity and fun techniques to practice the words with them. One of the best and practical ways to teach them vocabulary is using games. Here are some of them.

Categories

This game helps children to categorize the words in the columns, to get their meanings and to find a relationship between these words. For each category, you can use flashcards (fruit, vegetables, clothes, sports, etc) and give a list of different words to your kids (banana, skirt, apple, tomato, tennis, baseball, shirt, shorts, kiwi, etc.).

out the odd word

This game is a bit similar to the previous one because it is again related to categorizing. Here the teacher gives a list of words, asking kids to cross out one odd word from each line. For example:

1. November, July, September, October
2. Cold, snow, January, summer
3. Monkey, banana, apple, kiwi
4. Run, tennis, baseball, football
5. Taxi, car, bus, house

How many?

Here all you need is to show a picture of different things (animals, fruit, vegetables) and to ask your younger learners to count how many things there are in the picture.

2-litre jar

This is a fun game to play with your kids. You show them a 2-litre jar and ask to come up with words that can be placed in this jar. For example, they can say coffee, candle, but they cannot say happiness or animal, because they cannot be placed in this jar.

I spy

One might call this game an old one, but my younger learners adore it. To begin the game choose an object and give some hints to your kids, such as: “I spy something that is big and blue”. The pupil that guesses the word takes a turn to spy something and let other kids guess.

Apple Pass

Get your kids to sit in a circle. You can use a real apple or a fake one. While you pass the apple to the next student, you must say one English word. The student then throws to another student and says a different English word. The student who fails to catch the apple or to say a word is out. And the game continues until you have one winner. It can be played with different categories, such as fruit, vegetables, animals, etc.

Touch

This game is all about giving some instructions. The teacher says: “Touch the board”, “Touch the chair”, “Touch something black”, etc. And young learners go around the classroom to find the appropriate objects and to touch them.

Basketball

Make a paper ball and prepare a box where your kids can throw an imaginary ball. Show a flashcard to the first student. If they say the right word and throw the ball into the box, they get two points. But if they fail to do one of these things, they get just one point. The person who gets the most points is the winner.

Pictionary

This is a nice activity for recycling vocabulary. You can play this game in groups. Tell one of the students a word and ask him/her to draw a picture of it on the board. The first student to guess, what the picture is, gets a point and takes a turn to come up to the board and to draw the next picture.

Line True or False

Put a line of tape on the floor and make appropriate signs for «True» and «False». Show a flashcard and say its word (you can say a wrong word).  If students think that you have said the correct word they jump on to the True side, if not they jump on to the False side. The student who gives the wrong answer is out.

What games do you play with your preschoolers?

Running out of tricks? Here are some quick vocabulary games for kids that every ESL/EFL teacher can rely on anytime of the day. They require little to no preparation and some can be given to kids and adult learners by adjusting the level of difficulty.

Ready to get your class off to a good start? Read on!

Vocabulary Games for Kids

1. Anagrams

The teacher writes preferably an 8-letter word or longer on the board and students make as many new words as they can using all the original letters from the given word exactly once. The team that produces the most number of words after the time runs out wins the game.

Variation: When checking the answers, cross out common words that appear in at least two of the teams. The team with most number of unique words wins the game. You may also vary the point scale with higher point goes to difficult or longer words.

2. Jumbled Word

The teacher writes a scrambled word on the board that students need to un-jumble in their teams, e.g LEJMUB –> JUMBLE. The first team that guesses and spells the word correctly gets the points.

Variation: For more advanced students, you may give 3 or more jumbled words at once which they need to solve in 1 minute. Points earned per correct answer. You may also try giving scrambled sentence which will test both vocabulary and grammar.

ALSO READ: SPEAKING ACTIVITIES FOR ANY LANGUAGE CLASS

3. Message Relay

The participants are divided into groups and each group forms a line. The person in front will be given a message and must pass it correctly to the next person by whispering until the student in front of the line writes it down. The goal is to get the message relayed to the last person intact and without any changes. If the sentence is perfect they get a point.

4. Back Spell

A kind of relay game where teams of equal size sit down in a neat line. The first student of each row should have a board and marker (but a pen and paper will do). Teacher gives a word to the last students at the end of each line. They need to pass the word along by drawing the word, letter by letter onto the back of the person in front of them until it reaches the first person at the front of the line who need to write the word on their board or paper. The first team to spell the word correctly wins the game.

Variation: You may give different words with the same amount of letters to the last student of each row to prevent cheating. You might also want to teach them some actions or signs before playing the game such as tapping or shaking their head to signify “repeat the drawing”.

5. Simple Simon Says

One of the classic vocabulary games for kids for teaching imperatives, parts of the body or simply as a classroom management. The teacher gives a command by saying “Simon says ___” and students obey, e.g “Simon says… put your hands on your head.” Players are eliminated from the game by following a command that is not immediately preceded by the phrase “Simon says”, or by failing to follow an instruction which does include the phrase.

Variation: You may ask one of the students to act as “Simon” and give commands to the whole class. The object for the player acting as Simon is to get all the other players out as quickly as possible; the winner of the game is usually the last player who has successfully followed all of the given commands.

6. Hangman

The teacher draws a row of dashes on the board representing each letter of the word that he wants the students to guess. If the guessing player suggests a letter which occurs in the word, the teacher writes it in all its correct positions. If the suggested letter or number does not occur in the word, the teacher draws one element of a hanged man stick figure as a tally mark.

Variation: Split the class into two teams to compete against each other and associate each team with a different marker color, e.g black v blue. Play hangman regularly except now each team gets one guess per round. When the class solves the mystery word, the point goes to the team that guesses more letters. You may also give each team points equal to the number of letters they have guessed.

7. Rock, Paper, Scissors!

Form two teams with equal number students who will line up and compete against each other. The first person from each line will meet at the center and play Rock, Paper, Scissors. The winner can ask the other player to give a word from a category or to answer trick questions. If the player answers incorrectly, they are out and the first team to get all the players from the other team out is the winner.

8. Pass the Ball

Students make a big circle and pass a ball in one direction (clockwise or the other way around) while the teacher is playing a music. The student who is holding the ball when the music is paused will give a word from a given category, i.e. countries, animals, verbs, etc. If the player repeats a word that has already been said or fails to give a word after 5 seconds, he is out of the game. My students love this game specially when I play an upbeat pop song that they know!

Variation: Without the music, start by tossing the ball at a student who will give a word related to the category. He/she will then throw the ball to another student.

9. Linking Words

This is a word association game where the teacher gives 2 words (example: “house and soda”) and students have to link the words by inserting other related/relevant words in between, i.e “house – kitchen – refirgerator – soda”. You may decide the number of words the player can use to link.

10. Guessing Games

Divide the class into two or three teams and in turns, ask one student from each team to come to the front. The student picks a word and conveys the word to his team. This game can be done using actions (charades) or drawings (pictionary) where student pantomimes or draws the word, respectively. I usually tell my students to choose whichever they feel more comfortable using to convey their ideas across. The team must guess the word correctly before the time runs out. If not, other teams may have the chance to “steal” and gets the points if their answer is correct.

FREE DOWNLOAD: ESL VOCABULARY ACTIVITIES POWERPOINT

11. Slap the Board

This game works best with beginner students. The teacher writes words arranged randomly on the board and calls one player from each team to stand equidistantly from the board. The teacher will say one of the words and students should run up to the board and slaps the word when they find it.

Variation: A variant of this game is called “Swat It!” where students use fly swatters to swat the word instead of slapping the board.

12. Word Association

In this game, students may stay in their seats or make a circle. The aim is to say a word that are associated together. Start by saying a word related to your lesson or topic. The first student will say aloud any word that they associate with your given word. The next player will then do the same with the previous word, and so on, i.e “tomato –> red –> Mars…” The student who gives an unrelated/dissociated word is out. Make the game more challenging by making the exchanges fast (maybe only 5 seconds to think?!).

13. Bingo

The teacher gives students a list of 20 words, phrases or sentences and ask them to copy 7 words they want on their notebook. The teacher then gives the definition of a random word from the list but does not say the word itself. If students think they have the word the teacher defines, they tick it. The student who ticks all 7 words they had chosen shouts BINGO and wins the game.

14. Rhyme Charades

This is a good way to teach students rhyming words. The teacher gives and example by saying, “I’m thinking of a word that rhymes with ‘Light’” Teacher then calls a student who thinks he knows the answer. But instead of saying the word, the student goes to the front and pantomime his guess. (For example, the student might act like he is becoming taller if he is thinking of the word ‘Height’). The rest of the class will then guess what the student is miming. If one of the students mentions the correct answer even if it isn’t what the actor is doing, it won’t be counted as a correct guess.

To get the students involved, I usually split the class into two teams. I give each team a whiteboard where they can write their chosen word to prevent them from changing it once the other team has correctly mimed the answer.

15. What’s on the List

I don’t know what to call this game so I’m just calling it this way. Divide the class into two teams and give each team a mini-whiteboard or a paper. Let the team leaders pick a topic written on strips of paper. Give them 2-4 minutes (depending on their level) to shortlist 12 items related to the topic they’ve got. When the time is over, tell whoever goes first the topic of the other team. They have 30 seconds to guess what’s on the list and will get a point for each item they guess correctly. Play as many rounds as you want with different topics. The team with the highest points wins the game!

16. Human Tic-Tac-Toe

This is a usual tic-tac-toe game, but with a twist! First, divide the class in two teams, X and O. Arrange 9 chairs in three rows and three columns or draw the grid on the floor using a chalk or dry erase marker. Now start asking questions from your lesson or topic. The group that gets the answer correctly gets to sit on the chair or take a spot on the grid. When using the latter, I tell the Xs to sit down and the Os to stand up to avoid confusion. Whichever group forms 3  first, either diagonally, horizontally or vertically, wins the game.

17. Dice Game

Choose 6 categories and assign 1 category to each number on the dice. Give each group a die. Students take turns rolling the dice and give words under each corresponding category.

18. Oral Spelling

Teacher has a list of new vocab words handy.  Groups of students form single-file lines.  Teacher says a vocabulary word.  Each student down the line says 1 letter until the word is spelled. If a mistake is made, spelling starts over with the next person in line.

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Do you use other quick, no-prep ESL vocabulary games for kids? Let us know in the comments and we will add them here!

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A list of fun English word games for kids to help improve children’s spelling, reading, and vocabulary. This list of word games for kids includes word games that encourage conversation and early literacy that you can play on the spot or prepare yourself with just some paper and pencil.

Why are Word Games Good For Kids?

Word games and vocabulary games for kids are great because they get kids talking and using language while having fun. When you make a learning activity fun, kids don’t realise they are learning.

For reluctant learners, playing these word games can help and motivate them to want to play and learn more.

*This post may contain affiliate links, read more here.

10 Fun Word Games for Kids

Many of these word games for kids can be prepared easily at home with materials you already have. However if you don’t have time to prepare your own, you can also purchase a range of fun word games for kids HERE.

1. Hang Man

Probably one of the most popular word games for kids is the popular Hang Man. Player 1 thinks of a word and Player 2 has to guess it before they get “hung.”

Player 1 writes spaces for letters are written on the page so they know how many letters there are in the word. Player 2 proceeds to choose a letter they think may be in the word.

If it is correct Player 1 writes the letter down where it goes. If it is incorrect Player 1 draws part of the “hangman”. If the drawing is complete by the time Player 2 guesses, then Player 1 wins.

2. I spy

A really easy and fun word game for kids is I spy. You don’t need anything for this game except your imagination.

Player 1 thinks of a word and tells the others the first letter. “I spy with my little eye, something beginning with __” The other players need to guess the word. Whoever wins gets to be the spy!

This is a really great car game for kids too and helps to build vocabulary.

3. Bingo

Such an easy word game to prepare for kids. There are some really good versions on Amazon HERE. You can purchase the game, or use it as an example to make your own.

Draw a square grid on a page and choose a theme. Write out some words using the theme. Eg, beach: swimming, sand castles, water, sea shells, dolphin, sunbeds, picnic etc.

Make an extra copy of the words ensuring there are a few extra than the amount on the page. Cut them up into squares and put in a bowl scrunched up.

Take turns in pulling out a word and reading it out loud, then finding it on your page. The first person to find all of the words calls out Bingo and is the winner.

This fun word game for kids helps with reading and talking aloud.

4. Word Family Game

This game requires children to rhyme. Select one word and everyone needs to write as many words as they can that rhyme with that word. Eg. If the word is “Cat”, answers could be: hat, bat, rat, sat etc.

This is a great word game to help build kids vocabulary and help their language skills.

5. Word Search

Another fun but challenging word game for kids is a word search. Draw a grid of 10 x 10 squares and place as many words as you can within the grid. Words can go up, down, or diagonal, and letters can overlap to be used more than once.

Create a list on the side or bottom of the page of the words you have entered. Then once you cannot fit anymore words in, fill the blank boxes with random letters.

Kids will need to find the words as quick as possible. This can be a fun word game to do individually or as a team. For kids who like to compete, you can make identical grids and see who finishes first.

This word game encourages persistence and helps to improve their literacy skills.

6. Unscramble the words

A simple word game for children that will get them really thinking! Write a list of words down on paper but scramble the letter order while writing. Kids will need to look at the letters and try to work out what the word is and guess it.

This can be quite a competitive word game, but it helps to really get their mind ticking.

7. Scategories

While this is also an official board game, (which you can find online here) you can also make it yourself quite easily. Each player has a piece of paper and pencil.

Select 10-15 categories. These can be anything you like but remember they should be popular enough that you can guess something with most letters. Eg. Country, Movie, Body Part, Actor or Actress etc.

Once you have your categories it is time to choose a letter. Without a dice, the easiest way is to write the letters randomly on a piece of paper.

Then one person closes their eyes and points to a letter. When the letter has been chosen, players have 2 minutes to fill in the gaps with something in each category starting with that letter.

Winner is the one with the most filled in at the end, or the first to finish.

This is a really fun and competitive word game for kids that helps to improve their vocabulary, spelling, and conversation skills.

8. Words within a word

This word game requires kids to create their own words. Choose one really long word with at least 8-10 letters. The longer the better.

The aim of this word game is for kids to try to make a list of small words out of the letters of the long word. So for example the word COMPUTER includes: put, cot, term, core, mop, top, pet. Etc.

This is a really fun word game to help children’s spelling skills.

9. I am going on a picnic

A fun word game to help with your child’s memory and to get them talking.

One person starts and says “I am going on a picnic and I will bring some… fruit”

The next person says what the first person said, and adds something of their own. “I am going on a picnic and I will bring some fruit, and some sandwiches.

The next person says what the first, and second person said, and adds something of their own. “I am going on a picnic and I will bring some fruit, some sandwiches and some ice-cream.

You continue on and on and it gets more difficult to remember everything. We usually can get to at least seven or eight, and surprisingly my pre-schooler can often remember more than me!

This conversational game helps with memory, and also learning new vocabulary.

10. Story prompts

This word game involves making up a story by taking turns in saying sentences. One person starts the story, and says the first sentence. The second person continues the story with another sentence, and so on.

The stories can become very interesting as each person has different ideas. Bilingual flashcards are great for this or you can find a great version online HERE.

This conversation activity helps kid’s imagination, as well as building their vocabulary.

Other Fun Learning Resources for Kids?

If you love these English word games, check out these posts!

English Classroom Games – To play in class or at home
Knock Knock Jokes – To get the kids laughing
Best Board Games for Kids – Educational and fun
Top Book Sets for Kids – For all ages

Which English word games do you play with your kids?

These fun English word games for kids can be played with children of all ages and also with adults just by adapting certain aspects of the game to suit the age of the player.

This list of word games for kids will keep kids entertained for hours on end without feeling like they are actually learning.

Word games for kids are a great way for children to learn new vocabulary in a fun way. This list of word games includes a range of spelling games, and vocabulary games for kids that will get them talking and help their language development.

Word Games and Vocabulary Games for Kids

Word games are a fantastic way to get your kids learning when they don’t realise it. These types of games help to build vocabulary, learn to spell, and communication in general. They are also really fun and most of them can be played almost anywhere.

If you are looking for board games that you can buy, check out our board games for kids post. These word games below don’t need much preparation, but if you don’t have time to prepare your own, you can also purchase a range of fun word games for kids HERE.

1. Hang Man

The Game: Arguably one of the most popular word games for kids is Hang Man. This word game can be played with minimum 2 players and is perfect for kids to practice their spelling. Player 1 thinks of a word and Player 2 (or more) has to guess it before they get “hung.”

How to Play: Player 1 writes down a line for each letter of the word they have chosen, so that the other player/s know how many letters there are in the word. Player 2 needs to guess a letter they think may be in the word. If the letter is correct Player 1 writes the letter down on the line or lines. If it is incorrect Player 1 draws part of the “hangman”. If the drawing is complete by the time Player 2 guesses, then Player 1 wins.

2. Words within a word

The Game: This is a great word game for kids that requires them to create their own words out of one large word.

How to Play: Choose one really long word with at least 8-10 letters. The longer the word the better. Then set a timer for 1 minute and start. Each player needs to try to make a list of small words out of the letters of the long word. So, for example the word COMPUTER includes: put, cot, term, core, mop, top, pet. Etc. This is a really fun word game to help children’s spelling skills.

3. I spy

The Game: A really easy and fun word game for kids that doesn’t need any materials at all and can be played anywhere is I spy. Guess what the person “spies”. Play this guessing game with as many players as you want in the car, on a walk, or even at dinner.

How to Play: Player 1 looks around and chooses an object that he or she can see then proceeds to say, “I spy with my little eye, something beginning with __” The other players then need to guess what the word is. Whoever guesses the correct words is next up to spy. Great game to play in the car.

4. Unscramble the words

The Game: This is a simple word game for children that needs a little preparation, but will get them really thinking. Kids will need to unscramble the letters to solve the word.

How to play: Write down a list of words on a page, but scramble the letters so that they are not in order. Kids will need to look at the scrambled letters to try to form the word. For younger children, it can be simple 3-4 letter words, for older ones to make it more challenging try some 5-8 letter words. This is a great vocabulary game for kids of any age that will really test their problem solving skills.

5. Bingo

The Game: Bingo is such a fun and easy word game for kids. There are some really good versions on Amazon HERE. That you can buy, but you can also just make up your own. Kids must find the words on their bingo card and be the first to cross them all off.

How to Play: Draw a square grid on a page and choose a theme. Write out some words using the theme. It could be colours, shapes, animals, or even their sight words they are learning at school. For a group of players, make sure that all of them have slightly different words.

Make an extra copy of all of the words on every page then cut them up into squares and put in a bowl scrunched up. You and the kids can then take turns in pulling out a word and reading it out loud. Whoever has the word on their page covers it with a token). The first person to find all of the words calls out Bingo and is the winner.

6. I am going on a picnic

The Game: An old favourite, and a fun word game to help with your child’s memory and to get them talking. One person is going on a picnic and each person has to say what they are bringing along, but with a twist! The more you play this vocabulary game the better you get at it.

How to Play: This game can be played with 2 or more people. Player 1 starts with saying “I am going on a picnic and I will bring … (and chooses an item, eg sandwiches”

Player 2 then repeats what the first person said, and adds something of their own. So, for example “I am going on a picnic and I will bring some sandwiches, and some strawberries.

Player 3 (or back to player 1) then repeats what the first person said, then the second person, and adds something of their own. So for example “I am going on a picnic and I will bring sandwiches, strawberries, and a picnic rug.”

You keep going like this for each person around the circle and as you go, it gets more difficult to remember every item. The game ends when someone cannot remember them all.

7. Alphabet

The Game: Another simple vocabulary for kids to get them thinking is the Alphabet game where you go through the alphabet to name different subjects.

How to Play: Write down the letters A-Z on paper, and then choose a subject such as animals or places. Kids need to then go through the alphabet using each letter to write down something from that subject. For example, Ape, Bear, Cow, Duck, etc.

The person who has the most at the end is the winner. This word game can also be played out loud if you don’t have paper, taking turns with each player going through the alphabet until someone cannot continue.

8. Word Family Game

The Game: This fun vocabulary game requires children to rhyme and think of new words. It can be played with 2 players or even a group.

How to Play: Choose one word to start with, and then everyone needs to write as many words that rhyme with that word. For example if the word is “Mat”, answers could be: cat, sat, rat, pat etc. If you are playing in the car or on the go, you can do one word at a time. If you have paper, then start with a list of words and go through them all with a timer. The person with the most words wins.

9. Word Search

The Game: A fun but challenging word game for kids that encourages persistence is doing a word search. Kids need to find the hidden words within a grid.

How to Play: You can find lots of fun word searches online for free and print them out (as the one in the image above) Or you can make your own easily by drawing a grid of 10 x 10 squares. Once you have your grid, place as many words as you can within the grid. Words can go up, down, or diagonal. For older kids who need a challenge, make some letter overlap and used more than once.

Make sure to create a list on the side or bottom of the page of the words you have entered so the player knows which words to find. Once you cannot fit anymore words in, fill the blank boxes with a range of random letters.

10. Story prompts

The Game: This is a great vocabulary game to get kids talking and sparking their creativity by making up stories together.

How to Play: Kids need to take turns in saying sentences to make a story. Player 1 starts the story, and says the first sentence. Player 2 continues the story with another sentence. Player 3 (or back to Player 1) continues the story again with another sentence and so on. The stories can become very interesting as each person has different ideas.

Other Fun Learning Games for Kids

If you love these fun word games for kids then you may be interested in our other posts that are also educational and help kids with their vocabulary and communication.

• Best board games for kids
• Best car games for kids
• Best kids activities to do at home
• Fun and simple science experiments for kids
• Nursery rhyme lyrics

Best word games for kids of all ages

These word games will certainly encourage your kids to use new vocabulary and improve their spelling too.

The best thing about these word games for kids is that they can can be played with children of all ages. Even parents can join in the fun too. Just adapt the game to suit the age of the player. Let us know if you have a favourite word game for kids that we haven’t listed so we can try it out!

Follow Mum’s Little Explorers on Facebook for more inspiration and if you are in Melbourne, come join the Melbourne for Kids Facebook Group.

Word Search

Word Search is a fun vocabulary game that will test your student’s knowledge of English words. In this game you can play the 1 player version or 2 player version where teams battle to find the most words first before their time runs out.

Level: Young learners (A2), teens and Adults (A2 – B1)There are two modes – “Classic” which takes words from all the different categories or categories. This can be played in 1 player or 2 player modes.  There are currently 9 different category of words (with more coming soon).

Custom mode allows the teacher to create their own size and category for students. This is a great way to make games easier or more challenging.

How to Play?

1. Students can be put in teams or play against each other.
2. Each student/team takes a turn to try and get a high score.
3. The most words found is the winner.

When it comes to teaching kids, perfect knowledge of the language is not enough to become a good teacher. Grammar tenses and speaking exercises don’t make any sense if they are not accompanied by playing games. In comparison with teenagers or adults, young learners don’t have any logical reasons to attend your class but feelings. Children will love English if you show them how much fun there. It is crucial to be positive, easy-going, and patient when you teach kids. Don’t try to push them to do something because it’s a rule, make them interested in the learning process. It seems to be difficult, to come up with games for kids and create something entertaining all the time, but it is highly rewarding job.

Young students have no intention to win a game, they just want to have some fun during your lesson. That is why, it is so hard to make them focus on one thing for a long time. Whether you teach listening or vocabulary, it must be an active task.

Fortunately, children memorize everything easily and quickly, you just need some supplies to catch their attention. We would like to tell you the most interesting and effective ESL kindergarten ideas that you can implement right away.