Fun Ways to Teach Contractions at Home: Three Games for Language Learning
Games for Homework Help
Teaching contractions to your child at home might be a little boring at the kitchen table, but these contraction games are anything but boring! Your child will ask you to play over and over, and soon, she’ll know all about contractions, and you’ll never have to teach a lesson.
Flash Card Game
This game is easy to make. Using plain index cards and colorful markers, write contractions on one side of the card, and the two words used to form the contraction on the opposite side. Here are some possible contractions to write on the flash cards:
can not: can’t
does not: doesn’t
do not: don’t
will not: won’t
should not: shouldn’t
would not: wouldn’t
Sit on your living room floor. Break out some popcorn and treat this like a board game. Hold up a card on one side and let your child tell you what should be on the other side. For each correct response place the flash card in a pile. Incorrectly answered cards will go back in the pile to do over. Go over the cards until all cards end up in the correct response pile. Give your child a sticker or other small reward for a job well done.
Contraction Car Game
This is a great game to play while you’re out with your child in the car. Have your child pick a color, such as blue or red. Whenever your child sees another car of this color, you will call out a contraction, such as don’t. Your child will answer you with the two words that the contraction is formed from. If the answer is correct, the child gets one point. If not, you get a point. Keep going until someone scores ten points. You can also switch the game around so that you call out the two words used to form a certain contraction, and your child calls out the contraction.
Sidewalk Chalk Fun
Draw a big square with sidewalk chalk on your driveway. Now divide the box into four equal sized boxes. Use another color to write four different contractions in the box. The box will look similar to a four-square box. Stand on opposite sides of the square. Have your child bounce the ball to you. When the ball bounces on one of the squares, your child will tell you the words used to make that contraction. If the child is correct, she gets a point. If your child is incorrect, and you catch the ball, you get a point. Bounce the ball back to your child and let her try again. She must catch the ball before calling out an answer and earning a point. Play to a score of ten.
These contraction games are sneaky ways of teaching contractions to kids who don’t like to sit and do homework. From riding in the car to playing outside, you can still help your child gain new skills, even without a kitchen table.
