10 Vocabulary games for preschoolers
Teaching vocabulary to preschoolers is not just about giving the definitions and some examples, but about creativity and fun techniques to practice the words with them. One of the best and practical ways to teach them vocabulary is using games. Here are some of them.
Categories
This game helps children to categorize the words in the columns, to get their meanings and to find a relationship between these words. For each category, you can use flashcards (fruit, vegetables, clothes, sports, etc) and give a list of different words to your kids (banana, skirt, apple, tomato, tennis, baseball, shirt, shorts, kiwi, etc.).
out the odd word
This game is a bit similar to the previous one because it is again related to categorizing. Here the teacher gives a list of words, asking kids to cross out one odd word from each line. For example:
- November,
July, September, October - Cold, snow, January,
summer - M
onkey, banana, apple, kiwi - Run, tennis, baseball, football
- Taxi, car, bus,
house
How many?
Here all you need is to show a picture of different things (animals, fruit, vegetables) and to ask your younger learners to count how many things there are in the picture.
2-litre jar
This is a fun game to play with your kids. You show them a 2-litre jar and ask to come up with words that can be placed in this jar. For example, they can say coffee, candle, but they cannot say happiness or animal, because they cannot be placed in this jar.
I spy
One might call this game an old one, but my younger learners adore it. To begin the game choose an object and give some hints to your kids, such as: “I spy something that is big and blue”. The pupil that guesses the word takes a turn to spy something and let other kids guess.
Apple Pass
Get your kids to sit in a circle. You can use a real apple or a fake one. While you pass the apple to the next student, you must say one English word. The student then throws to another student and says a different English word. The student who fails to catch the apple or to say a word is out. And the game continues until you have one winner. It can be played with different categories, such as fruit, vegetables, animals, etc.
Touch
This game is all about giving some instructions. The teacher says: “Touch the board”, “Touch the chair”, “Touch something black”, etc. And young learners go around the classroom to find the appropriate objects and to touch them.
Basketball
Make a paper ball and prepare a box where your kids can throw an imaginary ball. Show a flashcard to the first student. If they say the right word and throw the ball into the box, they get two points. But if they fail to do one of these things, they get just one point. The person who gets the most points is the winner.
Pictionary
This is a nice activity for recycling vocabulary. You can play this game in groups. Tell one of the students a word and ask him/her to draw a picture of it on the board. The first student to guess, what the picture is, gets a point and takes a turn to come up to the board and to draw the next picture.
Line True or False
Put a line of tape on the floor and make appropriate signs for «True» and «False». Show a flashcard and say its word (you can say a wrong word). If students think that you have said the correct word they jump on to the True side, if not they jump on to the False side. The student who gives the wrong answer is out.
What games do you play with your preschoolers?
Маргарита Аветисян 
