Do your kids love sports?
Word games are a great way to learn about grammar. Kids especially bond to language when it’s clever or funny or about one of their passions!
The following grammar game idea comes from Brave Writer mom, Christine. She’s got boys who are crazy about sports. You might try something similar with any interest your child has. Simply find the appropriate literature (video game reviews, ballet magazine, quilting manual, cookbook). Thanks, Christine!
Grammar Game
1. Take the sports page and ask your kids to each pick an article. Read and enjoy bits of it together.
2. Next, have them circle all the verbs they can find.
3. Ask how many “to be” (state of being) verbs are used then note how many are action words.
4. Talk about the word pictures the verbs evoke. For instance, what mental images come to mind when they read words like “edged” or “squashed” or “tackled”?
5. Lastly, discuss why the writer might have chosen the verbs he or she did. For instance, is “upend” a stronger choice than “beat”? Ask your kids what words they might have picked instead.
Later you could play a version of the game with nouns, adjectives, or adverbs.
Have fun!
Image by Josh / Creative Commons Licensed
