9 Fun Ways To Improve Your Child’s Vocabulary

Building up your kid’s vocabulary is crucial to their language development. Beyond that, it also enhances their social skills and confidence from teenage to adulthood. Although school plays a pivotal role in this, you can’t downplay the significance of parental involvement in improving your child’s word game. This is backed by recent research, which says that your child learns 95% of their words from you. If you’re wondering how to improve your child’s vocabulary, here are nine fun ways to do so.

1. Take a trip to the library

Your local library can kickstart your little one’s vocabulary and set them on the path to early reading awesomeness. Studies say that visiting the library can boost literacy skills in young children. And if you’re not sure where to start, you can ask your friendly librarian for assistance. Apart from reading, kids’ libraries also offer cool events and activities that not only sprinkle new words into their vocabulary but also let them mingle with other kids. You can also create your own home library to make learning new words even more convenient.

2. Substitute synonyms

As mentioned earlier, young children tend to pick most of their vocabulary from their parents. So, as your child’s greatest role model, consider swapping out some regular words for cooler synonyms. Synonyms are like the spice of language; they mean the same but add a zing. For instance, you can replace “big,” with “enormous” and “smart” with “brilliant,” “clever,” or “bright.” Chilly, bitter, and freezing can also be a good replacement for cold. Meanwhile, online resources like Thesaurus are great for finding synonyms.

3. Talk to your youngster all the time

One of the most significant factors impacting language development is stimulating parent-child conversations. You don’t have to talk about anything interesting; if you’re stuck, recount what happened earlier when your child was at school, your usual home routine, or even prior family vacations and other shared experiences. Even when you’re out and about, let’s say in a museum, grocery store, or joining a train, talk about what you say and how you feel using new words. Aside from having an exciting time with your child, you get to unleash a flood of new words, presenting a win-win situation!

4. Play vocabulary games together

Vocabulary games are a terrific method for your youngster to have fun while also expanding their vocabulary. There are a variety of family favorites, and you may select from several themes to ensure everyone’s having fun while picking up new words. It gets even better because there are games suitable for use in the classroom, at home, on your commute to school, or while performing chores. Also, you may have fun playing classic games like word search, which has been shown to improve reasoning and strategic thinking, vocabulary expansion, and spelling ability.

5. Place a word in various settings

When you use an unfamiliar word in a conversation, try to put it in several contexts to help your child learn. For instance, if your kid has learned the term ‘fortunate,’ you may say how lucky you are to be a member of such a wonderful family and then later express how fortunate it is that the store hasn’t run out of bread despite the fact that it’s late in the morning. Alternatively, you can give a usage example and then allow them to come up with their own.

6. Make labels around the house

Make it simple for your child to learn new words by showing them and mentioning them frequently. Improve their fundamental understanding of well-known terms by labeling regularly used household items with a label maker so they can learn to identify what a term looks like. For instance, if your child’s toys are organized into distinct bins containing similar objects, name the containers with terms like blocks, dolls, vehicles, and so on. It’s like giving words a face, making it a fun visual vocabulary game.

7. Avoid watering down your vocabulary

Often, it’s tempting to water down your words when chatting with your little sidekicks. However, it would be best to go big, whether you’re tossing out names for new toys or throwing in some adjectives for those big feelings. Talk to them like you would your adult buddy. Academics describe this kind as Tier 2 words, which are challenging words that can set your kid up for success in school. So, no need to hold back when you can let those fancy words fly.

8. Teach and reinforce the alphabet

You can make the ABCs a total blast for your little explorer. Forget the formalities, sing that ABC song, and watch the magic happen. Aside from helping their vocabulary, it boosts their confidence, too. This trick keeps your preschooler entertained on those never-ending car rides, in waiting rooms, or while you’re stuck in lines. You can also spice it up with cool alphabet games like “I’m Going On a Picnic” or the Alphabet Game, where you name things starting with each letter. You can also introduce your child to learning games that give their alphabet skills a boost.

9. Read aloud together

Reading aloud has been found in studies to assist kids in discovering how to apply words to make meaning in their everyday lives. It helps them increase their information-processing abilities, vocabulary, and understanding. This activity focuses on the abilities of auditory learners. Reading aloud is an excellent method to expose your preschoolers to new vocabulary as well as spend time together with them. Select books that are appealing to your kids yet contain terms that are somewhat above their level of comprehension. You could get through what they imply together by using context and visuals.

Boosting your child’s vocabulary is simple and a total game-changer for their reading, and the above tips can help you achieve that. It can be as easy as making new words part of your everyday conversations. Just toss some new words here and there, and your little ones will pick them up before you know it.

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