Word Play Fun

ALPHABENT: Try writing a sentence in which successive letters of the alphabet are used. The sentence may begin with any alphabet letter as long as the letters follow in succession. Example: Alan begged Carl, "Don't eat frankfurters!"

ALLITERATION: Write a four to five word sentence using the same beginning letter. Example: Ann ate artichokes and anchovies.

ACROSTIC: Write a very long word such as SICKNESS down the left side of the paper then write the same word going up the right side of the paper. Try to create words that begin and end in the same letter as listed. Make the words as long as possible. Each letter counts as a point. Winner is the one with the most points. Here is an example using the above word. SassafraS,InvestigationS,CorrodE,KeeN, NotebooK, ElectroniC, etc. (A good lesson for using the dictionary!)

COLLECTIONS: Make a year’s ongoing collection of words by writing them on 12x18 construction paper or oak tag. Introduce, and encourage children to add to them as the year progresses.(feeling, day, night, sad, cold, taste, basketball, election, city, ocean, jungle words and things that have numbers, use electricity, come in pairs and dozens, etc.) The following can also be used:

PALINDRONE: words, phrases, or sentences that are spelled the same front wards and backwards such as radar, mom, dad, pop, Madam, I'm Adam.

OXYMORON: a rhetorical figure in which contradictory terms are combined such as deafening silence, good grief, pretty ugly, found missing, small crowd

ANAGRAM: a word or phrase made by reordering the letters such as stain into satin; dear: read; meat: team

HYPERBOLE: a figure of speech in which exaggeration is used for emphasis or effect (especially used in tall tales) such as: I could sleep for a year. This book weighs a ton.

ONOMATOPOEIA: the formation of words imitating sounds such as buzz, tick-tock

PORTMANTEAU: words that have been blended together to make one word such as: brunch (breakfast-lunch), smog (smoke-fog), chortle (chuckle-snort), glimmer (gleam-shimmer)

SPOONERISM: W.A. Spooner of England made many slips of the tongue by an accidental interchange of the initial sounds of words such as May I sew you to a sheet? (May I show you to a seat?); a well-boiled icicle (a well-oiled bicycle)

IDIOM: an accepted phrase or expression having a meaning different from the literal such as She drives me up a wall, He's got rocks in his head, You are skating on thin ice.

PUN: a humorous use of a word where it can have different meanings; play on words such as Our kindergarten teacher tries to make the little things count, A dentist feels that his occupation is very filling.

ANALOGY: similarity in some respects between things that are otherwise dissimilar such as night is to day as up is to down, bee is to hive as bird is to nest.

PROVERB: form of advice that has been passed down from one person to the other for generations such as a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, Better late than never, Beauty is only skin deep.

ACRONYM: Initializations used frequently in media and everyday communication such as ABC (American Broadcasting Company), ASAP (as soon as possible), TLC (tender loving care), DA (district attorney) Children might even write a list of nursery rhyme first line acronyms such as PPPE (Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater) and have their classmates try to correctly answer.

EPONYM: a word or phrase that has its origin from a person such as sandwich named after the Earl of Sandwich, teddy bears named after Teddy Roosevelt.

WORD PARTS: Write a consonant blend, diphthong etc. at the chalkboard such as th. Have children list as many words as they can with those letters anywhere in the word. Give them a five minute limit.

WORD SEARCH PUZZLES: Using graph paper, have each child design a word search puzzle using their weekly spelling list. When finished, trade with a classmate and do the puzzle. These can also be done in science, etc.

GO TOGETHERS: Many words in our language have many uses such as "out." (also down, up, back, etc.) Think of words that go with these and list. Here are some examples:

out of style
out of luck
out of season
out on a limb
out in the cold
outnumbered
find out
break out

PLAY ON WORDS FUN: Brainstorm two words that might go together to make a good illustration. They may be compound words that are separated. Make sure to draw a picture to go with them! Here are some examples:

Did you ever see water run?
Did you ever see a star fish?
Did you ever see a square dance?
Did you ever see a horse fly?
Did you ever see a board walk?
Did you ever see a bell hop?
Did you ever see a chimney sweep?
Did you ever see a sword fight?

DOUBLES: Give children double letter consonants such as ll, tt, bb, cc, dd, ff, etc. Either have teams or play individually to see who can come up with the most words that have those letters.

COMBINATIONS: Write about five different letter combinations on the board such as “th, ent, gh, un, and aft.” Give a five- minute limit and make words using these combinations by adding letters anywhere. First prize goes to the individual or team with the most points. Each letter is good for ONE point.

BEGINNING TO END: Individuals or groups find as many words as possible beginning and ending with the same letter, such as b--b, s---s, etc. Give one at a time, and to make it livelier, allow them to use the dictionary!

HIDDEN WORDS: Have children try creating sentences using their classmates’ names and hiding them within the sentence. Sometimes my brother is a moron! The lion’s den is easy to see.

HEADLINES: Write imaginary headlines for fairy tales, stories, or nursery rhymes. (Remote Country Home Vandalized by Blonde, Unique Individual Mortally Injured in Fall, Youngster Vanishes in Freak Storm – Goldilocks, Humpty-Dumpty, The Wizard of Oz)

NAME PYRAMID: Select an initial from your name and write it in a large letter at the top of a piece of paper. Think of a three-letter word that begins with your letter and write it below your large initial. Underneath, write a four letter word with the same letter, and continue making a list of longer words. Use the dictionary! Example written vertically: G, gem, game, gavel, garage, geology, gigantic, gabardine, gatekeeper, gingerbread, glockenspiel, galvanometers, governmentally

PREFIXES/SUFFIXES: The object of this exercise is to come up with as many words using prefixes or suffixes as possible. Give children examples of prefixes such as per, post, semi, super, trans, etc. or suffixes such as able, ic, ine, tion, ous, and ment and have them make as many words as they can.

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