Word games
Language allows us to share thoughts and feelings. It integrates us into a social environment and, therefore, it is essential to develop it. To do it in a very fun way, both for children and adults, there are countless resources that you can use.
Oral communication is one of the most extraordinary skills and abilities that distinguish us as human beings. It is the main resource that we use to interact and establish social relationships. In fact, it is something that we never finish learning, since new terms can be introduced into our vocabulary every day and, in this way, our possibilities of transmitting knowledge are enhanced.
In such a context, we are not only talking about the existence of word games for children, because you are never too old to have fun with friends using the language. Words that sound funny, that are difficult to pronounce or combinations that have more than one meaning, are the perfect cocktail to keep our mind active and stimulate it, while releasing some endorphins that make us feel good.
We invite you to take a look at our 6 proposals for word games, where you will surely find some dynamics that will be of interest to you. In addition, we indicate the resources that you must have on hand to carry them out.
1. String of words
No materials needed.
This dynamic is also known as chain words, a game suitable for ages 10 and up. In addition to being a lot of fun, it allows children to analyze the vocabulary they already have and organize it mentally. A word will be given to the child, who will be in charge of forming words with the final letters of the one that was given. For example, if you say: chair. The child must say a word that begins with “lla”, such as called or called; the chain can grow more and more, following the rule.
2. Stop!
Necessary material: Ballot papers and pencils.
This game can be fun to play as a family. It is required to choose some categories, such as animals, countries, names of people, etc. The more creative the categories are, the more funny words will appear during the game. Those categories will be written at the top of the ballot for each person who participates.
Then someone will say the alphabet in their head. While another person will be the one in charge of saying Stop! At that moment, whoever was thinking of the letters will reveal which one they left behind and say it out loud, for example, “words with Y”. That letter will be the beginning of all the words that each person will write on their ballot for each category. Whoever finishes first will yell “Stop!” and it will go to the counting of points.
These points will be designated as decided, but the most common is that if a word was repeated among the participants, it will have less value than one that no one else has written.
3. Guess the word
Material needed: No materials are needed.
If you like group thinking games, this may be the one for you. One person can think of a word, which the rest of the players will try to guess. To do this, they have the help of asking on a limited number of occasions. And they will receive as answers words like “sometimes”, “yes” and “no”.
4. Hangman
Necessary material: Paper and pen are needed.
This is the classic guess the word game that almost all of us have played at school. It will be enough to put on a paper as many small lines as there are letters in the word that we want someone to guess. If desired, some help letters can be added to reduce the level of difficulty of the riddle. However, difficult words for hangman, with many letters, or even phrases can be added to make the game suitable for adults. Or, if we play with a preschool child, we will have to choose children’s words, made up of few letters.
The funniest thing is that, while the game of forming words is taking place, the hanged man’s figure is also drawn, with each time the person fails to guess letters.
5. Word Salad
Necessary material: Ballot papers and pencils.
Among word guessing games, this one is ideal for fun with friends . It consists of each person thinking of a word; it is recommended to specify the number of letters. For example, words with 5 letters, 8, etc., depending on the level of difficulty you want to make words. Each person must write the word, but with the letters in disorder, and pass the ballot to the person next to them, who will try to solve the riddle. It will be the job of each player to ask themselves, what word can I form with these letters? This implies a great capacity for attention and observation . In addition, they may occasionally discover more words with the same given letters, but which are not like the one originally thought.
This dynamic is also available for download on some sites that have free word games. Which will give you the option to do a variation against the clock, to see who finishes solving all the words in the shortest possible time.
The best thing is that, if the time has come, any of the words has broken your head too much, the solution to the word game with scrambled letters can be found on various online pages, which show you, for each set of letters, all the possible combinations what about them For example, the word search site.
6. Crosswords
Necessary material: Paper and pencil. Optionally, a tablet or ipad.
A fun way to increase vocabulary is through word guessing games with clues. If you have a tablet, you can find many applications that show, for example, the definitions of the words and the empty boxes where the letters should be put. Otherwise, they can be created manually. These are great games to pass the time while learning .
The mentioned dynamics are not the only games that exist. In the case of children, there are many options. In fact, it is possible to find an educational toy specially designed for them to develop their potential when working with letters.
