Post by Jane on Jul 22, 2014 20:38:45 GMT 9
Here are a few games that are particularly geared to encouraging kids to use their words. They can also be enjoyed by older kids and adults!
Who am I?
A nice version of a well-known game. The player whose turn it is wears a picture card on their forehead (aided by a magnetised headband) and has to ask questions of the other players in order to find out "who am I?" They can only be questions that require a yes or no answer.
www.habausa.com/who-am-i.html
Story Cubes
A set of dice with pictures of different objects. Roll all the dice and then tell a story trying to incorporate all the objects shown. This is lots of fun for adults too and really gets the creative juices flowing. There is now an app available too, but we haven't tried that yet.
www.storycubes.com/
Dixit
A beautifully illustrated boardgame that encourages players to let their imaginations run free. Player one chooses a card, keeps it hidden and comes up with a phrase to match. The other players then each choose one of their cards that best matches that phrase. All the cards are shuffled and laid out, and then everyone has to guess which was the original card that inspired the phrase. If everyone guesses right, nobody gets any points, so the idea is to make it cryptic enough, but not too cryptic.
boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/39856/dixit
Time Bomb
I can't remember the real name of this one, unfortunately. I guess we haven't played it for a while but we used to get it out all the time. Basically it's a word association game with the gimmick of a ticking "time bomb" that you pass around. Players take it in turns to think of words related to a particular topic given on a card (fruit, or beach, or whatever). When you're holding the "bomb", it's your turn to think of a word, and you'd better make sure you think of something and pass the bomb on before it explodes! This always results in much hilarity, and the kids don't even notice how they're practising different word groups. You could recreate it using a kitchen timer or stop watch.
EDIT: Have now found the link: gibsonsgames.co.uk/blog/games/pass-the-bomb-junior/
