If children got their way to live the life they’d like, they’d potentially spend the whole day playing games. Thanks to technology, games of the yesteryears like Super Mario and Duck Hunt are a thing of the past. Today, kids have various online educational games to indulge in. Engaging in word games like Word Scramble to increase vocabulary is one aspect that benefits students in strengthening their reading and writing skills.
There are many vocabulary games online for kids that can help them learn new words and definitions. These games are interactive and engaging, making learning fun for kids. In addition to helping with vocabulary, these games can also improve problem-solving skills and cognitive functions. Children tend to have a blast playing these games while they learn important skills that will help them in school and beyond.
Check out this post with some of today’s vocabulary games online that children of budding age can indulge in.
There are several other ways, too, to help children grow fond of this segment of English. Have a look below.
Online games to help kids with stronger vocabulary
1. Knoword
Knoword is a classroom-based game for teachers to host that can help kids enhance their vocabulary in a fun and engaging manner. The game comes with a friendly User Interface offering an interactive deck of flash cards. Kids can pick from a wide pool of topics like Trivia, Science, History, Geography, Language Arts, and Social Studies. All that is needed to be done is pick the subject, select the cards and dive into the whirlpool of words and quizzes. And if in case there isn’t a subject of your interest, the teacher can create it, making it more alluring for kids to participate in.
2. Osmo Words
Osmo Words is a great game for kids to learn new vocabulary. The game is played by matching words with pictures. Players score points when they match a word with the correct picture. The player with the most points at the end of the game wins.
Osmo Words can be used to teach kids new vocabulary in a fun and interactive way. It is also a great way to review and reinforce existing vocabulary knowledge. This game can be played with 2-4 players, making it perfect for classrooms and family gatherings. Osmo Words is recommended for kids aged 5 and up.
3. Wordsmith
Wordsmith is a phonics-based crossword puzzle game that helps kids learn how to read and spell words. By matching letter sounds with letters, kids can quickly learn how to read and spell new words by putting them into crosswords. Kids can use this game on iOs and Android One can even track their progress by going through their play statistics, challenging thousands of others playing online. With every spelling, kids get three tries to attempt the right word. The game imbibes a sense of accuracy, and brainstorming and lets them perform with more conciseness, while they keep learning new words, and spellings, and reading through it.
4. Prodigy English
Prodigy is an online game that helps children learn English. The game is designed for children aged six to eight but can be played by children of all ages. Prodigy is a multiplayer game, so children can play with friends or family. The game is free to play, but there are optional in-game purchases. Prodigy is available in English and Spanish.
To play Prodigy, children create an account and choose their avatar. They then select a world to explore.
There are four worlds to choose from:
- Magic Academy
- Dragon World
- Pirate Island, and
- Lost City.
Each world has different activities and challenges for children to complete. As they play, children earn experience points and level up. They can also collect items and gold, which can be used to purchase upgrades for their avatar.
Prodigy is a fun and educational game that helps children learn English. It is a great way for children to practice their language skills and make new friends.
5. Spectacular Spelling Play
This game can be best played and enjoyed by children between the ages of 3-7. Princess Presto, a beautiful cartoon character, shows how to pronounce letters like “z” and “oo” to spell the term “zoo.” She offers valuable education and positive thinking to kids as they acquire phonemic awareness. Eventually, as they keep practicing, they learn and develop different vocabulary.
The princess will pull out letters from the box, and you must choose the ones she requested and place them in the vacant places until each word is full and makes complete sense. Whenever that happens, you move on to the next term, where you must build an even larger one to gradually learn to comprehend more intricate terms.
Through beautiful visuals and animation alongside engaging audios and music, kids learn vocabulary with proper pronunciation of words. It benefits them in verbal and writing English both.
6. Word Ladder
Word Ladder takes it a step ahead and has a tinge of music. It adds music to make this simple and engaging game more enjoyable. In many ways, it also helps retain the child’s attention, which is short-lived. It teaches children to write simple phrases with an accompanying interesting illustration. It’s an excellent game for improving your child’s vocabulary. With each image they correctly identify, they learn more and more new words. You can utilize solved keywords to assist you in figuring out the answers even if you don’t know the term.
This game is a fun way for kids to learn the decoding of words in sentences and what they mean. It helps them incorporate long-lasting vocabulary skills in strategic ways. Parents and teachers can also engage to keep their minds sharp and alert by making them play this game!
7. Aim 2 Spell
In Aim 2 Spell, kids will choose one alphabet at a time to spell each word on their list properly. Children can contest with their peers to determine who can spell the fastest. Then, the term is read to them to reinforce vocabulary with a contextually rich sentence. If necessary, children can have the sentence or word repeated.
Students will hear the phrase and sentence spoken out while they aim at the characters to spell the words.
Teachers may use this game to foster healthy competitiveness in the classroom by assigning high points based on precision and automaticity. Students can use varied spelling lists while contending with others to ensure that the list is appropriate for their learning level and is neither too simple nor too difficult.
8. ABCya Letter Blocks
This game is an excellent technique for children to improve their spelling and parallelly work and build their vocabulary. They can simply build words between 3 and 8 by clicking on adjoining letters. A quick tip here would be to know that different stages necessitate different aims, so keep an eye out for tips! When the children get their desired result, it boosts their confidence and encourages them to try different levels and games. ABCya offers hundreds of entertaining and instructive games and activities organized by school level and subject!
Through building blocks of words and spellings, kids tend to improve their spelling sense with proper pronunciation of words. They even learn how to use a specific word when and where.
What daily life habits can be implemented in order to improve vocabulary?
Kids can learn vocabulary by hearing new words in many different contexts. Here are some ideas for how you can help your child build their vocabulary on a daily basis:
- Read aloud to your child every day. As you read, point out and explain any new or interesting words.
- Encourage your child to ask questions about words they don’t know. Help them look up the definitions of unfamiliar words together.
- Play word games together, such as Scrabble, Boggle, or crossword puzzles. Not only will this help with spelling and memory, but it will also introduce new words.
- Take turns making up silly stories together, using as many new and interesting words as possible.
- Go on field trips to new places, such as the library, the park, or a museum. Use as many descriptive words as possible to discuss the things you see and do.
- Try to read a newspaper every day with your child and ask them to highlight words that are new to them. Explain the meaning and how it’s used in a sentence.
- Gift your child a dictionary. Let them learn 2 new words every day. You must ensure conversing with them using those words to enhance their vocab.
By implementing just a few of these activities into your daily routine, you can help your child expand their vocabulary significantly. Just remember to have patience and keep it fun!
Conclusion
Word games are fun for youngsters to acquire new vocabulary, improve their reading, and build their writing abilities simultaneously. Several engaging games help cultivate a love of language in children while teaching them critical literacy skills.
The application of digital games as teaching material and gamelike forms may be more successful than conventional media such as books in attracting students’ attention. It is advantageous to teach vocabulary with the help of games since games bring fun and interest in learning. Because of the difficulty of remembering foreign words and spelling, vocabulary acquisition is seen as challenging. Games might be an excellent tool to inspire and involve kids in the learning process.
Several educational institutions and classrooms have long engaged in technology-enhanced activities. E-books, interactive software, and the utilization of games all make a significant difference in the teaching and learning process. These improvements raise the possibility of using digital gaming activities in English classrooms.
Even the most reluctant learner or child will instantly get interested and try to be involved while these games are being played. Not to forget, teachers and parents play a very important role in ensuring the success of this method.
An engineer, Maths expert, Online Tutor and animal rights activist. In more than 5+ years of my online teaching experience, I closely worked with many students struggling with dyscalculia and dyslexia. With the years passing, I learned that not much effort being put into the awareness of this learning disorder. Students with dyscalculia often misunderstood for having just a simple math fear. This is still an underresearched and understudied subject. I am also the founder of Smartynote -‘The notepad app for dyslexia’,