Why games with vocabulary words are amazing tools for learning

I’m about to tell you exactly why it’s awesome to use games with vocabulary words to reinforce learning. I love games for everything I teach, basically, but I love them for vocabulary the most. Learning new words is and should be a visual experience and games can really help with that. Besides that, games are also fun, everyone knows that, and why not have a little fun while learning!

Why use games for vocabulary building

People learn better when they enjoy it, and games are fun! Students will enjoy learning new words when they’re learning or re-enforcing them through a game. Usually there is also some type of movement involved and this enhances learner motivation. Movement has also shown to improve memory and retrieval. Apart from the fact that using games is fun, it’s also something different. There’s only so much worksheets you can have students do, or exercises in a workbook. A game is a nice change of pace from the standard work.

Use images

The use of images helps retain vocabulary. The connection of an image to the word creates a strong connection in the brain, which is critical for remembering the new words students learn. Students have to purposefully connect the images to the words they learn and to the words they already knew previously. This helps them recall the words quickly when they need them. In the pre-playing-a-game phase you should also reinforce learning of words with pictures, so be mindful of that.

Use the words themselves

Use games in which students will also have to read the words and/or pronounce them. Seeing the spelling and practicing pronunciation will help them understand the composition of the word and, again, this helps retain the meaning of the word as a whole better. They’ll see similarities between words that are spelled the same or pronounced the same, which will help them make even more connections in their brain.

Combine all of these and you have a great activity for vocabulary study!

Games for vocabulary review that are great

I love the following games with vocabulary words for vocab study: charades, Pictionary, taboo, categories, Scrabble / Bananagrams, word bingo, memory and dominoes.

• Charades will help students make connections between words and their meaning in real life. Movement and behavior help them understand the meaning of words.
• Pictionary helps students see the visual connection between the word and a picture of what that word looks like.
• Taboo helps them make connections between the word that is featured and other words or phrases that are connected to it. Describing a word is also a skill that is needed for this game, which helps the explaining students think about the meaning of the word too.
• Categories is a quick game that will help students think of all the words they know in a certain category with the letter that is asked. It will help them dive into their memory of categories of words that they’ve learned.
• Scrabble and Bananagrams are great for practicing spelling of words. Once students have learned them, they must also practice spelling them correctly to win points.
• Bingo is a great game to help students remember what words ‘look’ like in their mind, if you either say the word and they must cross out the correct picture on their bingo card, or the other way around.
• Memory and dominoes both help students to make connections between words and the pictures that match those words and forces them to choose the correct matches to win.

And out of those, I love memory and dominoes the most. In fact, I made my own bundle of digital memory games and printable dominoes games. I just love that students have to match the pictures and the words together in these games. It really helps them retain that vocabulary. Click the picture below to check them out!

For more of my blog posts on teaching vocabulary, click here.

And check out this article by Mrs Donaldson Primary Resources:

Vocabulary Activities for the Classroom

And this one by the Language Adventurist!

Games for English Learners