One of the advantages of homeschooling is getting to try out different methods of learning, including learning through play. Educational games can be beneficial for kids of all ages, helping them to build cognitive skills without realizing they’re learning. Word games are a good tool to help teach literacy, spelling, and reading. Here are some ideas for fun word games to play together.
Hangman
This is a classic game for a reason. Player one thinks of a word and writes spaces for each letter. Player two tries to guess the word, letter by letter. A wrong guess means player one draws part of the ‘hangman’. This is great for teaching spelling, as a child will have to start recognizing words with only a few letters provided and know how to spell the word they want you to guess. It’s also a quick game, so it works well with young children with shorter attention spans. Writing the letters down can be good handwriting practice too.
Word Bingo
Draw a square grid on a piece of paper and choose a theme, like vacations or winter. Write a word in each box to go with your theme, like sand, sunscreen or beach. Write out all the words on pieces of paper, scrunch them up and put them in a bowl. Take it in turns to pull out a word and read it aloud, with the other player trying to find it on their page. This game helps with word recognition, reading and talking aloud.
Scrabble
Most families have a Scrabble board lurking in the cupboard, so dig it out for a game with your children. Young children might need some help, but this game is a great tool for building vocabulary and learning to spell. If younger children do need help, play in teams with a child and an adult on each team and allow the use of tools like this list of 2 letter words which can help find a new word to play. Look up the meanings of words you don’t recognize, so everyone can learn something.
Rhyming Game
Choose a word, and get everyone to write as many words as they can think of that will rhyme with it. For example, if the word is ‘cat’, the child should write words like ‘hat’, ‘bat’ and ‘rat.’ This game builds literacy skills like growing their vocabulary and boosting their language skills.
Unscramble the words
Write down a list of words, but scramble the letter order. Ask your children to unscramble the letters to reveal the word. This is a fast-paced game that can become competitive, while also teaching spelling and word recognition.
Word searches
Children’s magazines often have these in or you can easily make them yourself with online tools or just drawing them yourself. Draw a grid and write in a set of words. Fill in the blank squares, and write a list of the words that need to be found at the bottom of the page. This game can be played individually or as a competition to improve literacy skills.