I love words and I want my kids to have a good vocabulary. So I play this game with them to make learning new words fun. All you need is a dictionary, paper, pen and some creativity.

First, I look through the dictionary for some silly sounding words and pick ones that:

A) Have simple definitions.

B) Most people don’t know the definition of.

This is a crucial part of the game! I’ll tell you why in a bit. If you’re pressed for time, here are some of the words I’ve used and what they mean:

Addax – A light-colored antelope.

Bugbear – An imaginary goblin.

Collop – A small slice of meat.

Dornick – A small chunk of rock.

Earwig – Insect with slender antennae.

Next, I have my kids write down the words I’ve chosen, leaving space next to each word. At this point, I don’t tell them what the words mean. Then, I have them write down what they think each word means. So far, they’ve never guessed correctly, but their definitions are priceless!

Once they’re done, I have them look up each word in the dictionary to see what the word really means. This helps them learn how to use a dictionary and to understand alphabetical order. Then they write the actual definitions of each word on their piece of paper. Hearing the words, looking them up in the dictionary, and then writing the definitions down helps commit the words to memory.

You can stop at this point, but we like to see if we can stump Daddy. So, I type up each word with the three definitions. The real one plus the two definitions my kids came up with. Then at dinner we see if Daddy can guess the real definition. He hasn’t been able to yet!

We get a good laugh at dinner and the kids feel smart. Mission accomplished.

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