Learning Language via Games

Learning a language can certainly be a challenging task. Thanks to the advent of the internet and online games, however, learning a language has become fun, exciting, and even more interactive! Reading games that make learning languages fun employ meaningful language in real contexts to help learners pick up the language with ease. They are a welcome break form the monotony of daily life and provide language practice skills in speaking, writing, listening and reading. The few reading games that I have listed below are great language learning tools for kids in the contemporary world. Irrespective of which language it is that your little one is trying to master, these games will help her strengthen her grasp over it.

Image Credit: John Morgan

Noun, verb, adjective, and …

The very popular Far Eastern game of “Name, place, animal, things” has been tweaked to bring to you - “Noun, Verb, and Adjective”. Draw three columns on a sheet of paper and name them Nouns, Verbs, and Adjectives. Keep cut out letter cards from A-Z in a bowl and shuffle them well! A player chooses a random alphabet and displays it to the other players. She then turns down a sand clock while the players will have to write a noun, verb, and adjective each starting with the chosen letter. Keep a dictionary handy for the players to go through to clear any confusion. And you never know when kids may stumble upon a new word that they can learn and write! For every correct answer, the player gets 10 points. Play 10 rounds of the game before you decide the winner! This game will be a wonderful language tool for the kids to ‘reading’ and ‘executing’ parts of language learning.

Passing the parcel

When you are done with ‘Noun, Verb, and Adjective’, remove the papers and pens and start playing this game. This reading game requires more effort from the organizer so that the players can just reap the benefits once the game starts! Get a few dozens of index cards and write down several topics on them, like –

·         Noun starting with z

·         Things found in an igloo that begins with l

·         A science topic that begins with f

·         An American President whose name begins with g

·         An adjective that begins with p

·         Nouns starting with s

Give a little parcel to pass around among the kids to a player. As soon as the timer starts ticking, the player with the parcel picks up a card and solves it before passing the parcel to her neighbor. The parcel moves around till a player fails to reply within 5 seconds and is disqualified as a result. Then, the game resumes with the next player. It goes on till all the students are disqualified barring one.

As I am a homeschooling mom, and not a teacher, I always play these language and reading games with my daughter’s friends. Speaking from personal experiences, the kids accept my daughter’s pajama party invitations knowing they’ll get to play these games! If it’s a day party, I replace these games with cooking games that the girls equally love!

Why Are Fairytale 1st Grade Worksheets Great to Introduce 6 Year Olds to Reading?

Fairytales and reading – the two are very closely associated with a child’s life. While fairytales are an integral part of growing up, reading is an essential life skill. Fairytales are memories that are cherished while reading is a life skill that’s utilized. Age 6-7 is that time when kids begin to gain a good grasp over reading and can be encouraged to develop a love for it. They need to be introduced to reading with great, exciting, educational resources that will help them enjoy reading and get better at it. So, what is the right way to get children to read and which are the right resources that must be used? Read on to know more.

Image Credit: Gabi Jguma

How can 1^st grade worksheets based on fairytales inspire children to read?

Story

Fairytales have always managed to captivate our minds. Their larger-than-life portrayal, of even the most mundane incidents such as a day in the kitchen or work in the fields, has mesmerized children across different ages. The element of magic is unarguably the crowd puller in fairytales. A pumpkin transforming into a beautiful carriage, a pair of rats turning into carriage pullers, a princess’s braid cascading down a tall castle for the prince to use as a ladder to climb up, a beast being relieved of an evil spell after he’s kissed by a beautiful princess, a mirror predicting who’s the most beautiful woman in the world, or a grandma and her grandchild being removed from a sleeping wolf’s stomach and later filling it up with stones so that the beast dies when he wakes up, are some of the ‘bizarre’ incidents that have enthralled kids across years. So, it’s but natural that 1^st grade worksheets based on fairytales are a great way to get kids to start reading. Some fairytale worksheets feature excerpts from the tales (examples: comprehension worksheets) and therefore ignite an interest in children to ‘find out more’, while others can be 1^st grade coloring worksheets with fairytale characters finding diehard fans in little children!

Artwork

Image Credit: aussiegall

Have you ever tried to compare a 1^st grade math or science worksheet to a worksheet that’s fairytale themed or features fairytales? Don’t you agree that they more attractive with pastel shades and heavier artwork? Artwork on fairytale worksheets are generally created by specialized artists to make them look more exciting and interesting to little kids. Teachers put in extra effort on these 1^st grade worksheets because they want the printables to be inspirational, motivating students to take up a great hobby such as reading. Other than comprehension and coloring pages for 1^st grade kids, fairytale worksheets can also feature craft activities, educational activities, reading and grammar lessons, original poems, and more. Such worksheets are not perfect only for 1st graders; they suit made students from kindergarten to primary school. It’s never too late to take to a great habit. And there’s nothing better than reading!

How to Rate A Virtual Game for Kids

With more and more kids playing games online for entertainment, the market for online kids’ games has grown drastically in the last few years. The number and quality of kids’ online games has also increased accordingly. Kids as young as three years of age are playing virtual games targeted at their age group. Yes, that’s right. Games modelled on virtual worlds like Second Life are now being developed exclusively for kids. Naturally, parents have cause to be worried. If kids are allowed to meet and chat with strangers through these virtual games, how can parents protect them from predators, mature content and cyber bullying? The answer is not to ban them from playing virtual world games, but to make informed decisions about which virtual games are good for them to play. Here are the parameters parents must keep in mind when rating virtual games for kids.

                                                              Photo by IvanWalsh.com

          

Online safety – Naturally, safety tops the list when you’re evaluating a virtual world game targeted at young kids. Many virtual games for kids offer parental control settings where the game can be set to single player mode or multi player with canned chat mode according to the age of the child. Free chat modes usually have safety features like filters and moderators that remove sensitive information and inappropriate language from online conversations. This allows kids to familiarize themselves with the model of virtual world games without being exposed to the dangers of unrestricted chat. Other virtual games targeted at kids have full-time adult moderators who monitor the online activity of players and take immediate action against members who violate the safety rules of the game. Check what kind of safety features the game has to protect your child from online dangers. If your child is in preschool or younger, you should navigate the game with your child and not leave him playing the game unattended.

Updates for parents – Some virtual games for kids provide parents with information on what their kids are doing online. This is good for kids who are new to virtual worlds and aren’t yet adept at practicing online safety. Parents can use these updates to talk to their kids about their online activities and start conversations about staying safe on the internet. The updates also let parents know how much progress their child is making in various aspects of the game.

Activities in the game – You don’t want to okay a virtual game that your child has no interest in playing. Check to see what kind of activities players can engage in in the game. Age-appropriate online games, puzzles and virtual world activities like virtual shopping, avatar customization and in-game exploration are all activities that kids enjoy on virtual worlds. For older kids, pay attention to social elements like safe chat and safe social networking, without which a virtual world game will fail to hold their interest.

Virtual game theme– Each virtual game is usually built around a specific theme, like zoo animals, fairies, monsters, dolls, etc. See whether you can find a good virtual game with a theme that your child is sure to enjoy. The activities and virtual environment in the game revolves around the theme of the game, so if your child likes the theme, you can be pretty confident that he will have a great time playing in the virtual world.

Educational content – Some games offer educational content like learning games and other activities that teach important scholastic skills. Finding a great virtual game with educational content ensures a win-win situation for you and your child.

When evaluating a virtual world game for your child, all you need to do is visit the game’s official website and you will be able to find information about each of these parameters on there. If you still have unanswered questions, you can check online reviews from other parents or from trusted websites like Common Sense Media to make sure you are making the best decision for your child.