Your kids will love these fun, interactive word games you can play with a tablet, a pencil and paper, or no supplies at all!
Vocabulary skills are the building blocks for a child’s communication. For some kids, it all comes easily. Others need a little more encouragement. And that’s where word games for kids come into play. Introducing kids to word games is a fantastic way to get them excited to learn at any level!
Here, we’ll share some simple word games you can try right now. Play at home, on the go or anytime you have a few minutes to spare.
Spelling Bee
An easy way to get your kids to practice phonetics is by playing Spelling Bee. Ask them to spell a word like “table” or “apple.” This can be played with a basic timer to make it more challenging. As kids attempt to beat the clock and spell new words, they’ll have fun while they learn.
Unscramble
Perfect for a vacation or a long flight, Unscramble is a kid-favorite. This game revolves around unscrambling words they already know. Think of a vocabulary word, scramble up the letters and write them down on a piece of paper. Kids will have fun trying to unscramble and figure out the word. You can use long and short words, depending on your child’s age and reading level.
Snowman
Have you heard of Snowman? It’s a more positive, kid-friendly spin on the classic word game Hangman. The steps are similar: Pick a word and write out a blank for each letter in the word. Ask kids to guess the letters in the word. For the first letter they guess incorrectly, draw the bottom snowball. Continue to draw the snowman with each additional mistake, including all three snowballs, the stick figure arms, hands, carrot nose, top hat, eyes and a frown. If players guess the word before the frown is drawn, they win!
Missing Letters
Simple yet engaging, Missing Letters is a word game that can be played easily with no supplies at all! Simply pick a word and spell it out partially to your kids. Let them guess the missing letters that complete the word. It’s that easy! You can also play this game on a piece of paper and ask them to fill in the blank spaces with the right letters.
Ending Words
Another fun word game is Ending Words. Share a word with your kid, and ask them to think of a new word that starts with the last letter of your word. So if you say “orange,” they have to say a word that starts with the letter “e” and so on. If you play in a group, kids can hear and learn new words from other players.
Safe reading spaces like Epic have tons of books to get your kids excited about words.
Here are just a few of our top picks!
Let’s Learn Word Families
Overview: Learn to rhyme, spell and identify different word families.
Author: Tessa Kenan
Age range: 3-5 years
The Word Collector
Overview: A visual treat for kids where they pick words from magical patterns.
Author: Sonja Wimmer
Age range: 3-7 years
Will the Word Eater
Overview: A quirky tale of how Will thinks out loud while learning words on the go.
Author: Roger Rosen
Age range: 4-8 years
We hope these word games and books get your kids excited about words, help build their vocabulary skills and give you a chance to connect and have a little F-U-N. Give them a try!
