…When I’m at home with Junior? JEANETTE BUCKLEY shares five fun ways.

Children are sponges. They have the ability to learn anything and everything. They don’t learn only when they are in the classroom.  They learn constantly. It’s our job as educators and parents to stimulate our children all the time. We often claim that children are too energetic and hyper, but part of that is because they need stimulation. Anytime you are with a child, is an opportunity to stimulate them. There are hundreds of games which you can play to practise math, language, general knowledge and memory, amongst many others. The games below are easy to play and will hopefully stimulate you to think of more games to play with your child.

1. Hangman

Hangman can improve vocabulary and spelling. Take it in turns to choose a word. When you first start playing, choose a category (like fruit), so that it is easier to guess the word. On a piece of paper write down a blank for each letter (_ _ _ _ _). Your child chooses a letter they think is in the word. A good tip is to teach your child to choose vowels first. It will help them realise that every word has to have a vowel. If they guess a correct letter, they get to choose another letter. If it’s not the right letter, then start drawing your stickman. Keep score, a point for each person who guesses the word correctly. Take turns in guessing and choosing the next word.

1. Board Games / Card Games

Asking your child how to spell words can be tiresome for both of you. Make it interesting by playing simple board games, like monopoly (even chess as they get older) or card games (like Uno). But, change it up. For your child to have a turn they have to spell a word. Once they’ve spelled the word correctly, then they can have a turn. To make it fair, they can ask you to spell a word. They could even choose a word from the dictionary to make it more difficult for you. At the same time, they will be learning spelling and more vocabulary. To change it up a bit, you could also quiz them on synonyms and antonyms, by asking, “What is another word for ___?” or “What is the opposite of ___?” This will help with reading comprehension.

1. Jumbled sentences

A great game that improves grammar, sentence construction and punctuation but it takes a little preparation. Students usually know the answers to reading comprehension questions, but they lose marks for careless grammar and punctuation mistakes. Write a couple of sentences onto a piece of paper and cut each word out, including punctuation marks. You can even take the sentences from a book. Mix the words up and race to put them in order. First one finished scores a point. Make sure you check and review the sentences.

1. Word Scramble

This is a fun way to improve vocabulary and spelling. Choose a long word, like ‘difficulty’ or ‘elephant’ and see how many words you can make using only the letters from that word.

1. Categories

If played well, this can improve vocabulary, phonics and it also gets you thinking. Choose five or six categories, animal, place, fruit & vegetable, cars and famous people. Pick a letter, like G. Set an egg timer and go! Giraffe, Germany, guava, golf, Ghandi. Score two points for each correct answer and one point if someone else has the same answer, zero if you can’t think of the anything for the category.

These may be simple games, but they are effective in getting your child interested in words and their meanings. Children learn so much more when they are having fun, because they feel smart and are open to new concepts. More than this, children learn when they are given attention. Engage your child and let the lesson slide in.