Simple Grammar Games to Help Kids Remember

Engaging kids in grammar games is a fun and effective way to help them improve their language skills. These interactive activities make learning grammar enjoyable while reinforcing concepts like synonyms and homonyms or phrases and adverbials.

Why Use Grammar Games for Learning?

Using grammar games transforms boring lessons into engaging activities. These games:

  • Foster creativity and collaboration.
  • Help kids retain grammar rules more effectively.
  • Encourage hands-on learning and active participation.

Whether it’s practicing synonyms and homonyms or mastering phrases and adverbials, grammar games make it easier for kids to apply these concepts in real-life communication.

Let’s explore some simple and creative games to boost their understanding.

Grammar Simon Says

Play the grammar version of Simon Says by choosing a body part to represent different parts of speech. The Jolly Grammar guide has a scheme already established. In this scheme kids touch their forehead with five fingers for common nouns, or they move their arms in a jogging motion for verbs, for example.

Your job is to call out a word and your child must work out what type of word it is and make the correct motion. The great thing about this game is that it incorporates movement into learning which kids enjoy.

Raise Your Cap 

This is another simple game which allows kids to move, making it ideal for kinaesthetic learners. You can incorporate it easily into your normal story time. Give your child a cap or hat, and while you’re reading out loud, ask them to put their cap on each time they hear a word which should start with a capital letter.

If you’re reading to more than one child, challenge them to see who can put their cap on fastest. If they make mistakes, pause to reflect on the rules for capitalisation.

Past, Present, Future

Write down a list of verbs in past, present and future tense, for example jump, jumped, jumping. Cut out each word and create three columns, one for each tense.  Kids are required to match the cut out words to the correct column. Give them a time limit or get them to play against each other.

This is an excellent way to teach kids about spelling rules for adding ing and ed to verbs. It can also be adjusted for vocabulary by getting kids to match synonyms and antonyms in columns.

Colour Coding Fun

A simple, fun activity is to colour code for part of speech and get kids to circle or underline words in sentences with coloured pencils. Start with nouns and adjectives and then build on this with verbs, adverbs, pronouns, conjunctions and prepositions as their knowledge and confidence grows.

You can create your own code or use the Jolly Grammar code. Start by reading a story together and circling words, then get your child to work independently.

Silly Sentence Building

With your child, create lists of verbs, nouns, adjectives, pronouns and conjunctions then cut them up and ask your child to create sentences with the words. The goal is to make the sentences as silly as possible, so be creative with your words.

This activity helps kids understand the different role parts of speech play in a sentence. You can also ask them to use their silliest sentence as the opening line for a creative writing exercise.

Spot the Error 

Print up sentences with some errors, such as commas in the wrong place and no capitals, and challenge kids to find the mistakes. It helps to tell them how many mistakes to look for.

You can turn this into a writing exercise by getting your child to dictate a story to you, so they are editing their own work. This will encourage them to look more closely at their own writing.

How Grammar Games Improve Understanding

Grammar games help children grasp complex topics like synonyms and homonyms or phrases and adverbials by:

  • Breaking down grammar rules into manageable pieces.
  • Offering repetition without monotony.
  • Creating opportunities for real-world application.

These interactive activities are an excellent way to build confidence in language skills while having fun.

Enrich Learning with Tutor Doctor

At Tutor Doctor, we understand the value of engaging and interactive learning experiences. Our tutors can incorporate grammar games in our tutoring services and personalized strategies to make language learning fun and effective. Ready to enhance your child’s skills? Contact Tutor Doctor today to schedule your first session and see the difference personalized tutoring can make!