Do you feel like you don't have enough time to practice English with your child at home? Or, perhaps you feel that your child is bored whenever you try and practice English with them.
Here, we have four fun, interesting, and super simple games you can play with your child at home! We guarantee that these games will get your child having fun while speaking in English.
1. Find it!
Aim: to talk about household items/objects.
How to play: sit down with your child somewhere at home. Then, when you are both ready, say "Let's find something orange!", for example. Whoever finds an orange object the fastest, wins a point. Once you have both found an object, you must say what the object is (in English) and discuss it. Continue to play for however long you want using colours, shapes or letters (e.g. "Find something that begins with the letter b". The winner of the game is the person with the most points.
2. I-Spy (a classic)
Aim: to talk about what you can see in your current environment.
How to play: this game can be played pretty much anywhere at home. To begin, sit down with your child and say "I-spy with my little eye something beginning with 'b'", for example. Then, have your child try and guess what it could be. If they get it right, they get a point! You can take turns playing this game and the winner is the person who gets the most points.
*Tip* if your child is struggling to guess what you can see, give them more clues, such as "It is orange."
3. Charades
Aim: to practice using verbs.
How to play: start by sitting your child down and have them face you. After, set a timer to 20 seconds and begin acting out a verb (swim, dance, run etc). Tell your child to try and guess what you are doing, if they get it right before the timer runs out, they get a point! Take turns playing this.
If your child's English level is more advanced, try using different verb tenses. For example, you could say "Yesterday I..." then do the action and have your child shout out the full sentence using the correct verb tense, such as "Yesterday you ran!"
4. The Minister's Cat
Aim: to practice using adjectives.
How to play: this game can also be played anywhere in your home. Sit down with your child and tell them about a silly cat called The Minister's Cat. Then, tell them that you are going to describe the cat together using every letter of the alphabet. For example, you could start by saying "The Minister's cat is an amazing cat!", your child then has to think of an adjective beginning with the letter 'b' to describe the cat. Once you have made it to the end of the alphabet, the game is over. If a person can't think of a word during the game, the other player is the winner. Remember, try and make the game as silly as possible, the funnier the better!
We hope that these games can help you motivate your child to practice communicating in English at home!
Check out the video below to find out 5 ways you can help your child improve their English skills at home: