Learning words and what they mean is the very basis of education.  Whether your child goes to a preschool or is home schooled, she will be expected to know a number of words before any serious learning can begin.  Thankfully, vocabulary is also one of the first things we start teaching a child (when your baby says her first word - that’s her introduction to vocabulary). 

Here are some vocabulary preschool activities that you can use to boost your child’s understanding of words, increase the numbers of words she’s familiar and their context and meaning.

Bean Bag Game

Throw a bean bag back and forth, and recite rhyming words

Start with the very basics.

Cat, bat, mat, pat

Can, pan, man

Top, mop, hop

Tin, bin, pin

Egg, peg, leg, keg

Run, bun, sun

Progress to bigger words.

Land, band, sand

This is a verbal game, so don’t worry too much about spelling discrepancies.

White can go with tight, might and bright, and even kite.

 If she gets stuck, continue, and explain the meaning of the words as you recite them.

 
Thinking Game

Use thinking games to boost vocabulary.

What else in the room is red?

Show me something else on the table that’s round. (at dinner time)

The egg is yellow. Find me something else in the house or garden that’s yellow. Give her a paper lunch bag to fill with other things of the same kind she finds.  Strictly no opening closets.  She’ll have to found whatever is out in the open at home or outside.

Story Telling PreSchool Activity

• Cut out a bunch of pictures from magazines, and make a scrapbook of it.
• Paste the pictures to pieces of cardboard, insert in clear plastic covers and staple at the sides. 
• Include a fair mix of things that she’s very familiar with (animals, household items or objects) and things she’s not familiar with (ocean, forests,). 
• Now look at the pictures together, and make a story out of them. 
• When she comes across a picture that she doesn’t know much about like a forest, explain what it means and the different animals and birds that live in one, and proceed with the story. 

Name the book after your child.

Word Recognition Through Context

Take a bunch of index cards, write names of commonly found household objects,  and place the cards on these objects.  For instance, door, window, bed etc.  Keep the cards up for a week, to establish word recognition in your preschooler.  At the end of the week, take the cards down, and write down the words on a paper.

Let her compare the list with the cards, and match each card with the word on the list.

Tip: This preschool activity works equally well, if you’re trying to get your preschooler to learn a new language.

Enjoy!