Adjective Games

Young children will learn almost anything when they are having fun: that is why adjective games are a really effective way to teach about adjectives in the classroom. Children develop a stronger vocabulary when learning is a fun process and when they frequently use their newly-learned adjectives.

Fun and Easy Adjective Games

Alphabetical Adjectives

Start at the beginning of the alphabet, and have your class brainstorm as many adjectives as they can that begin with each letter.

Tips:

  • Keep a record of how many they come up with for each letter, so that when you play again, you can determine if your students are coming up with more adjectives than they could last time.
  • Play this game with a different letter every day.

Once your students have run out of adjectives, offer a few more of your own which they have not listed: you can have a list ready so that you are prepared to help them out. 

Describe My Outfit

Have each student bring in a photo of themselves from home, or have them draw a picture of what they are wearing that day. Then, have them write a paragraph that describes what they are wearing with as many descriptive adjectives as possible.

Advantages:

  • This game will get them out of the rut of describing their clothes as “pretty” and “nice” – the two adjectives teachers hear far too often!
  • If you make sure that your students describe themselves in a positive way you will also encourage them to develop their sense of self-esteem! 

Musical Adjective Games

Have each student bring in a CD that features one of their favorite songs – tell them to write down the author, song title, and track number so you can play it easily in class. Before playing the game, make sure that the song is appropriate for the classroom without any words or themes that are not appropriate for young kids. 

Have the student describe the music aloud with lots of adjectives – loud, quiet, happy, sad, fast, slow…even more creative adjectives, such as scary, smooth, and silly can be used – encourage your students to listen creatively!

Variations:

  • You can also search for a song you know on YouTube that has a lot of adjectives in the lyrics, and then you can ask students to write down as many adjectives as they can hear, or have them raise their hand each time they hear an adjective.
  • Another option is to have them stand up and sit down each time they hear an adjective, like when singing “My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean.” 

What’s That Smell?

Each student can get a chance at playing the game as other students watch and play along. In several plastic containers, put a small amount of fragrant objects that might be familiar smells to your students.

Ideas for Objects:

  • Apple slice
  • Pizza slice
  • Mint leaves
  • Chocolate

Blindfold the student and have them smell the food or fragrant object. Then, have them focus on their sense of smell and describe the object with as many adjectives as possible.

Adjective Online Games

An adjective word search is among the many fun adjective online games. A word search is a fun activity for students to work on in their own time alone. It can also be done with groups of students helping each other complete the word search.

You can find many adjective word searches available online that feature adjectives such as those at mes-english.com. You can also use a word search generator that will help you create puzzles and worksheets that feature the specific adjectives that you have been learning in class. 

Tips on Selecting Adjective Games

When choosing adjective games to play in the classroom, make sure they are centered around correct grammar usage, building vocabulary, and boosting creative skills. Students do not need to know the technical aspects that they are learning through games: in fact, the best games are the most fun and stimulating ones. 

Printable Adjective Games

If you are looking for a printable adjective game to provide a variation on the games you play, you have plenty of options online. For example, you can print adjective board games from Mes-English.com that will allow you to easily structure adjective activities in your classroom.

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