Have you think about kids Vocabulary? Why small kids do not communicate in English ? Even they know how to talk but they don't use english for communication. Do you know why?
Disclaimer : This is specially for those kids who really have a struggle to Communicate in English.
My daughter is fluent in English.
Kids often anxious about their vocabulary. They do not have spontaneous word to have english communication. They afraid if they unable to speak. And many more reason are there.
Specially if you are Maharashtrian or Hindi bhashi then the problem is "Word Bank". Kids do not have sufficient vocabulary so they are unable to get the proper words. Uneducated parents or parents from vernacular medium face such kinds of difficulties.
What are the reason for this?
1. Basically parents do not have own developed vocabulary. Even I am still facing this issue😁.
2. They tend to use mother tongue words most probably.
3. They themselves never talked in English at home with family members
4. Sometimes they unable to find the accurate word.
5. Sometimes they start to communicatie in English but because of poor vocabulary they failed.
What is the solution?
Well, you have to start early. Since baby is one month old. Use English words as much as possible. Specially action words. It sounds stupid for some parents but if you want your kids vocabulary should be broad then better to start early.
Do read aloud to babies. Baby love colours and so use picture books. This way you have a chance to develop your own vocabulary too.😉
3. Books and books are the most important at this stage.
4. Use words books, action words books, verb books, fruits, vegetables, alphabets, professional, relations, neighborhoods books etc. All these kinds of books have a word. It is most useful for baby, toddlers and parents too.
So this is for babies. Now we can check what can we do to small kids who are going to playgroup, kindergarten.
If I ask, are you playing with your kids?
The answer is - YES!
But it get irritate when we are tired and kids want to play with us. Then, What do you do ?
Well, my answer, we played. 😐 Yes, still we play. Sometimes me, sometime hubby, but we played. It may be for 10 to 15 minutes but we played.
Why?
Because playing always rejuvenating kids. It assured them parents love them and like to play with them. This is the best way where you can teach your kids anything which you wants.
As per psychology the game is the most important part of kids development. We parents should always encourage our kids to have open ended play. It should include, functional Play, symbolic play, constructive play and more brain games.
You may like to read :
Study Tips for History
Indoor Traditional Game : Bhatukali
How to teach more than 30 words 15 minutes.
How to play ?
Whenever your kids want to play with you said,
Yes!
Trust me it will take only 10 minutes to fulfill our kids emotional bucket. The joy that parents are ready to play with them is the most important things for them. No matter how short period of time you will play.
I am sharing how we used to play with my daughter when she was small. Even today also we play the same things but for language subject or EVS subjects. I try to upgrade the game as per her weak points.
The game which we played hardly for 10 to 15 minutes but it worked for both - kids and parents 😊
6 games to increase kids vocabulary.
1. Scavenger hunt :
Find things in bedrooms - particularly with some props. For example - find blue color things, find the things start with particular alphabets, find the things belongs to her toys like dollhouse, doll, kitchen set etc.
2. Antakshari :
This is not with song, but the Word search. It can be in English, Hindi or Marathi. Have to speak one word, the other person will find the word from the ending letter without spending too much time say within one second.
For example : Apple : egg : girl : lamp.
Can goes same with Hindi or Marathi
This one is good to build vocabulary.
3. Compound word :
Make the spelling of compound words. You say the first word and ask them the next word, like Sun - what is the next word- Flower. So the word Sunflower.
This can be played orally which is more fun. Other way to play for toddler is DIY card and timer. You can make diy card of first word on paper second word on another paper and ask them to join. Make sure you draw picture first. If your kid is in reading phase then use words. Let them think, let them use their brain.
4. Pretend play :
Like Doll house, supermarket, school, etc. Kids need lot of practice with English grammer. Playing is the best way where they can have real communication. Do play with them and communicate in English only. Use small sentences so they will also answer in English only. Like if you are playing Market, then ask the price -
What is the cost of apples? How much for a milk ?
4. Name, Place, Things, Fruits, Colours :
How many of you remember this game? When I was kid we played it a lot. Specially in school holidays we Played as a whole family.
This game require minimum 2 and maximum 5 player. It start with particular alphabet and player have to write the words in each column with the same alphabet.
For example : P : Name : Prakash,
Place : paris, Things: Pencil, Fruit : pear, colour : pink and on.
You can add up as many columns as you want. This is the best game to practice spelling, common and proper noun too.
5. Dum sharaz :
It sound simple but yes your little one will love it. Make action of any word like running, singing, writing ,cup, horse, door etc. Do not speak and ask to identify the words. Try to spell also. Use a blackboard and do write spelling. The fun way through which they learn to spell.
6. Fidget :
I used this for variety of things. As in picture it shows . I added up one colour to one side so that two players can play. The colour side landed up on any of the word like planets, then kids have to tell about planet name. For elder kids you can ask to tell anything they know about the planets. And what they wanted to know.
This game is good for improving communication in younger kids. You can ask them to talk about that particular word in 5 to 6 sentence. It will helps to develop communication skills too.
These are the games which helps me and my little one to increase vocabulary. Vacation has started so Play as much as you can with your little one.
Hope you like this post. Is it helpful? Which indoor games you played with your kiddo?
©Neeta Kadam. This article and image are the property of Memory Flies. Any unauthorized use or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author is strictly prohibited.
That's a good list. I remember we used to play this one all the time in school: Name, Place, Things, Fruits, Colours :
ReplyDelete💜
DeleteHats off to you Neeta for being so focused on your kids. I really like your effort in teaching them stuff thru games etc. We also played Name, place, animal, thing as kids... it used to be fun!😊
ReplyDeleteKids these days learn English faster than any other language so we don't have to take any extra effort I feel. My challenge is the oppposite, my kids speak only in English n they are not proficient in their mother tongue although I make it a point not to talk in English with them😫...
Kaveri.
Ohh. English is easy to learn but in some families it is difficult. It is requested post.
DeleteNeeta, this is very true, a childs vocabulary can improve tru us parents. Many people tell u should teach ur kids their mother tongue I never bothered myself caz I also learnt my mother tongue when I was around 6 years age. We know as parents whats best for our kids.
ReplyDeleteYes Flavia. Mothertounge is in our blood
DeleteI love the concepts you have invented to play with your kids. Antakshari and Damsharaaz which mostly we use it to play as filmy concepts, you have converted them into educational concepts. This way the kids will grow to love vocabulary and learn also faster.
ReplyDeleteI accidently commented as anonymous. I love the concept you have adopted to play with your kids. We normally relate antakshari and damsharaaz as a filmy game concept but you have cleverly turned it into educational game, this way the kids can learn vocabulary faster and even love the game.
ReplyDeleteI really like the way you are candid about your vocabulary. It is unnecessary to know English and talk to babies in English. We should not sideline the mother tongue I feel. But as a parent, it is up to you. It's good to hear about games even I played as a kid. Name place animal things or dumb charades.
ReplyDeleteI saw many parents who speak only in native language with babies. And when baby start school they are in search of tutor to teach basic English.
DeleteI completely agree with you that there are kids who knows everything and still fails to communicate in English ... sometimes I find that its their hesitation to talk other than mother tongue and sometimes they feel shy. But these tips will be helpful for those parents who are finding this problem. I do agree that English is a key language which we need to learn for making higher education easy... but it is equally important to learn mother tongue. For me first master your mother tongue and with time English for communication will naturally develop as today's kids are much smarter than us.
ReplyDeleteWe don't need to learn mother tounge it is in our blood. We speak automatically. English -some kids learn and some do not.
DeleteSo you are having a good time learning and teaching. Loved the games and I should say you are doing a great job.
ReplyDeleteThese are some excellent ways to improve vocabulary of kids. I try reading to them and almost always converse with them in English. It's a bilingual family already, so they both speak all three languages.
ReplyDeleteThese are good games to increase a child's vocabulary. The idea is to make it fun for the child. I recall the Name Place Animal Things game as a kid.
ReplyDeleteAs you mentioned, this can be particularly challenging for children from non-English speaking backgrounds or whose parents are not fluent in English. It's great to hear that your daughter is fluent in English, but it's important to support and encourage those who may be struggling with their language skills.
ReplyDeleteHer win Oman, children from various regions of India and other countries communicate easily in English, as it is a common language for them. Despite speaking Hindi, their mother tongue, at home, the children are not proficient in Hindi.
-Anjali
These are indeed some fun games to enhance the kids creativity and language development.
ReplyDeleteThe best tip I would always give new parents with children like this is to talk to them like an adult. And simply to talk to them more often. Add with their schedule a specific study time where they know they'll be learning new words. Making it fun by teaching them while playing a game is also what my daughters love to do. - MommyWithAGoal
ReplyDeleteA useful post for mothers with little kids. I used to read a lot to my son and that's how I made him very fluent in English. Now the problem, he doesn't speak any other language apart from English.
ReplyDeleteOhhh.
DeleteThese are some great recommendations, will be sure to pass them along to some of my mom friends
ReplyDeleteThese are great recommendations. Some of them like are timeless. My kids used to play name place animal thing and countries antakshari when they were younger.
ReplyDelete,💜
DeleteMy problem is the opposite. My son goes to an international school and he speaks English perfectly but he really struggles with Hindi. Maybe I can try some of your suggestions to help him improve his Hindi vocabulary.
ReplyDeleteNoor