how to make learning fun speech

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• Speech Writing /

2-Minute Speech On What Makes Learning Fun

• Updated on  
• Mar 11, 2024

We all seek fun at school or work. There is no age limit on learning. Whether you are an elementary student or a high school teacher, there is always room for improvement and learning. As an adult we reminisce about our good old school days; all the hours we spend in the playground, music room, art room, and the classroom. Traditional classroom lectures were often boring, where everybody was supposed to sit for long hours and listen to what the teacher was saying. Will you believe me if I say that learning can be a fun and exciting experience? Today, I will guide you through what makes learning speech and some interesting ideas.

Check out our 200+ Essay Topics for Students in English!

Also Read: Essay on Knowledge Is Power

Also Read: Speech on ‘If I Had A Superpower’

10 Ways to Make Learning Fun

Here are 10 ways to make learning fun. Feel free to apply them to your academic realm or any other field to make things fun and interesting.

• Spending time outside the classroom can enhance learning productivity.

2. Using interactive technology such as interactive whiteboards and virtual reality enhances the learning experience.

3. Inviting a guest speaker from an outside community can encourage students to pursue different skills.

4. Using or creating songs or chants related to the subject matter can help students during lessons to keep them engaged.

5. Using play cards with interesting information outside the academic realm.

6. Work for a fun Friday to keep students motivated at the end of the week.

7. Encourage students to participate in science experiments in labs.

8. Create a hands-on challenge for students to complete in time duration with exciting rewards.

9. Perform experiments to spark interest in students about educational content.

10. Plan special days or festivals by dressing like your favourite character or any traditional dress.

2-Minute Speech on What Makes Learning Fun

‘Good morning my friends and teacher (s). Today, I stand before you to present myself on ‘What makes learning fun speech.’ As students, we all struggle to understand long lectures and theory classes. Sometimes, our teachers also find it boring due to a lack of engagement and participation from the student’s side. Learning is a lifelong process and to make it enjoyable, all you have to do is add some fun and engaging activities.’

‘Not everybody is born with good learning skills. There are endless opportunities to discover and it’s up to us how we see the challenges and turn them into opportunities. How we approach learning is the real challenge. What makes learning fun is our ability to tap into our natural curiosity and creativity.’

‘Engagement is one of the important elements in making learning fun. Being engaged and actively involved in the learning process allows us to understand all its dimensions and can be an exciting experience.’

‘During class lectures, teachers often ask random questions. What would your reaction be if any of your classmates gave a satisfactory answer to questions? You probably would be wondering if I should be the one answering that question. It’s all about engagement and it’s not just about class lectures, but hands-on activities and other interactive discussions.’

‘To add a little spice to our learning experience, variety can play an important role. Different teaching methods can enrich our learning experience. Students have their methods of learning things. Some like hands-on environment, while others prefer group activities. Embracing diversity in learning can ensure a chance to shine to everyone.’

‘Making learning relevant and applicable to real-life situations is another method. Learning is meant to provide a sense of purpose, and it can be possible by understanding the real-world implications of what we are learning. Knowledge is power and it becomes an effective tool when we can connect it to our daily experiences or future aspirations.’

‘Making learning a fun and interesting activity depends on our ability to infuse it with enthusiasm, engagement and relevance. Learning is an interesting journey with lots of challenges and opportunities. 

Thank you.’

Also Read: Speech About Life for Students in English

Ans: Learning is a lifelong process and it requires focus and determination. A lot of times learning becomes boring, especially long lectures. To make learning fun, enjoyable and engaging, we must incorporate some simple and easy activities. Engagement is one of the important elements in making learning fun. Being engaged and actively involved in the learning process allows us to understand all its dimensions and can be an exciting experience. Making learning relevant and applicable to real-life situations is another method. Learning is meant to provide a sense of purpose, and it can be possible by understanding the real-world implications of what we are learning.

Ans: Here are some easy tips to make learning fun: Using interactive technology such as interactive whiteboards, Inviting a guest speaker from an outside community, Using or creating songs or chants related to the subject matter, Using play cards with interesting information and Working for a fun Friday to keep students motivated.

Ans: Learning can be fun for reasons like personal interests, engagement and interactivity, relevance to real life, variety and creativity, success and achievement, etc.

Related Articles

For more information on such interesting speech topics for your school, visit our speech writing page and follow Leverage Edu .

Shiva Tyagi

With an experience of over a year, I've developed a passion for writing blogs on wide range of topics. I am mostly inspired from topics related to social and environmental fields, where you come up with a positive outcome.

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Speak Clearly: 15 Fun and Effective Articulation Activities for All Ages

Hrideep barot.

• Communication , Public Speaking

Discovering the art of clear and confident speech involves diving into articulation activities, those nifty exercises designed to spruce up how we talk. These activities focus on getting speech sounds just right, covering everything from repeating single sounds to playful games and even reminiscing sessions. Why bother? Well, t hey’re a game-changer for folks dealing with speech quirks, offering a path to better communication, less social jitters, and a confidence boost.

Now, let’s talk about X fun activities for all ages. Kids can enjoy games like Articulation Bingo and Sound Scavenger Hunt. For the middle-aged crew, Word Puzzles and Conversation Cards add a fun twist. Senior citizens can relish Reminiscence Therapy and cozy reading aloud sessions. Each activity isn’t just about talking; it’s a mix of fun, socializing, and honing speech skills.

But the speech journey doesn’t stop there. Tips for speaking clearly and confidently roll in, from regular practice to focusing on pronunciation and even recording yourself. It’s a gradual process, but hey, progress is progress. If you’re serious about levelling up your speech game the following will help.

• What Are Articulation Activities?
• 15 Fun And Effective Articulation Activities For All Ages

Games That Can Elevate One’s Communication Skills.

Why should one practice articulation activities, what are articulation activities .

Articulation activities are exercises or tasks designed to help individuals improve their speech and pronunciation , particularly in terms of producing specific speech sounds accurately. These activities are often used in speech therapy, language development programs, or by educators to address difficulties with articulation, phonological disorders, or speech sound disorders.

Articulation activities may involve various techniques and tools to target specific speech sounds or patterns. Here are some common types of articulation activities:

Isolation Exercises:

These activities involve focusing on a single speech sound in isolation, without combining it with other sounds . This allows individuals to concentrate on the specific movement of the articulators (e.g., lips, tongue) required for accurate production. For example, saying the target sound (/r/, /s/, etc.) repeatedly in isolation.

Syllable and Word Repetition:

This step involves practicing the target sound within syllables and words. This helps individuals integrate the correct sound into different linguistic contexts. For instance, repeating syllables like “ba,” “be,” “bi,” or words like “cat,” “dog,” “ball” containing the target sound.

Minimal Pairs:

Minimal pairs are pairs of words that differ by only one sound (e.g., “bat” vs. “pat”) . Practicing minimal pairs helps individuals distinguish between similar sounds and develop the ability to produce the correct one through auditory discrimination.

Sentence and Phrase Practice:

Extending the practice to sentences and phrases helps individuals use the target sound more naturally and communicatively. This can involve constructing sentences or responding to prompts that incorporate the target sound .

Reading Aloud:

Reading aloud provides a contextualized approach to articulation practice . Individuals read passages, stories, or sentences that contain the target sounds. This helps bridge the gap between isolated practice and using the sounds in real-life situations.

Articulation Games: Making learning enjoyable, games can include board games, card games, or online activities that encourage the repetition of target sounds in a playful manner. This fosters engagement and motivation, especially in younger individuals.

Use of Visual Aids:

Visual aids, such as mouth diagrams or videos, offer a visual representation of correct articulatory movements . This visual feedback enhances understanding and awareness, aiding individuals in mimicking the correct mouth and tongue positions.

Mirror Exercises:

Observing one’s articulatory movements in a mirror provides immediate visual feedback . This self-monitoring approach helps individuals become more aware of their articulation and assists in self-correction.

Role-Playing:

Engaging in role-playing scenarios involves using the target sounds in real-life, communicative situations . This activity not only targets articulation but also integrates social and pragmatic aspects of speech.

Articulation activities are often tailored to an individual’s specific needs and may vary based on the severity and nature of the articulation difficulty. Regular practice and consistent feedback from speech-language professionals or educators are crucial components of successful articulation therapy.

15 Fun And Effective Articulation Activities For All Ages 

Some of the most fun and effective articulation activities are divided into groups based on age ranges – children , middle-aged people, and senior citizens:

For Children:

1. articulation bingo:.

Create Bingo cards with colorful images representing words with the target sound.

Use a variety of words to keep it engaging and diverse.

Encourage children to say the word aloud when marking it on their cards, reinforcing articulation.

2. Sound Scavenger Hunt:

Provide a list of target words, and children can check them off as they find corresponding objects.

Include a mix of common and challenging words to maintain interest.

Make it a collaborative activity, fostering teamwork and social interaction.

3. Story Cubes:

Use story cubes with a variety of images to spark creativity.

Discuss the story together, emphasizing the articulation of words containing the target sound.

Rotate roles, allowing each child to contribute to the story.

4. Silly Sentences:

Encourage creativity by having children come up with their silly sentences.

Provide a mix of words with the target sound and other sounds to create a balanced challenge.

This activity can be turned into a game with points for the silliest sentences.

5. Articulation Charades:

Include a mix of easy and challenging words in the charades game.

This game promotes movement, making it an active and enjoyable way to practice articulation.

Rotate roles so that everyone has a chance to act out and guess.

Check this out for more information and this video to know some fun strategies for children- 

For Middle-Aged People:

6. word puzzles:.

Tailor puzzles to the interests of the group (e.g., themed puzzles related to hobbies or current events).

Provide hints or clues related to the target sounds to make the activity more engaging.

Collaborative puzzle-solving can foster a sense of community.

7. Conversation Cards:

Create cards with open-ended questions that naturally incorporate the target sounds.

Encourage participants to share personal stories, ensuring the use of the target sound in context.

Use a variety of topics to keep conversations interesting and diverse.

8. Tongue Twisters:

Start with simpler tongue twisters and gradually progress to more challenging ones.

Practice each tongue twister multiple times, gradually increasing speed.

This activity enhances articulatory agility and control.

9. Role-Playing Scenarios:

Tailor scenarios to situations commonly encountered in daily life.

Use role-playing as an opportunity to practice articulation in realistic, everyday conversations.

Provide constructive feedback to reinforce correct articulation.

10.Memory Game:

Include images along with words on the memory cards to make it more visually engaging.

As individuals turn over cards, encourage them to say the words aloud and emphasize the target sounds.

Adjust the difficulty level by increasing the number of pairs or using more challenging words.

For Senior Citizens:

11. reminiscence therapy:.

Incorporate prompts related to different life stages to facilitate reminiscence.

Encourage individuals to articulate memories with clarity while engaging in a meaningful and nostalgic activity.

Create a relaxed and supportive environment for open sharing.

12. Reading Aloud:

Choose reading materials that align with the interests and preferences of the group.

Allow individuals to take turns reading paragraphs or pages.

Discuss the content, promoting articulation in a context that fosters comprehension.

13. Sing-Alongs:

Select familiar songs with clear lyrics and melodies.

Singing together provides a social and enjoyable way to practice articulation.

Consider incorporating hand movements or gestures to enhance engagement.

14. Poetry Recitation:

Choose poems with rhythmic patterns and rhymes.

Break down longer poems into smaller sections for easier recitation.

Discuss the meaning of the poems, adding depth to the articulation practice.

15. Articulation Meditation:

Integrate relaxation techniques with articulation practice.

Guide participants through deep breathing exercises while enunciating words with the target sound.

Emphasize the calming and therapeutic aspects of combining mindfulness with speech practice.

Remember, the activities can be adapted based on individual preferences, needs, and the severity of articulation challenges. It’s always beneficial to consult with speech-language professionals for personalized guidance.

1. Among Us:

Among Us, a popular online multiplayer game, requires players to work together on a spaceship while identifying impostors among them. Effective communication, persuasion, and critical thinking are crucial as players discuss suspicions and observations to deduce the impostors.

2. Codenames:

Codenames, a captivating word-based party game, challenges players to connect words using clues provided by their team’s spymaster. The game encourages strategic thinking and improves verbal communication by requiring players to convey information while avoiding confusion.

3. Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes:

Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes is a unique cooperative game simulating bomb defusal. Effective communication is essential for conveying complex information quickly and accurately, promoting teamwork, time management, and clear information sharing.

4. Pictionary:

Pictionary, a classic drawing and guessing game, relies on non-verbal communication and creativity. It encourages players to express ideas visually and interpret visual cues, making it a fun and interactive way to improve both artistic and communicative skills.

5. Escape Room Games:

Escape room games, in board or digital form, provide an immersive experience requiring teamwork, problem-solving, and effective communication. Players must share information and ideas to uncover hidden clues, fostering collaboration within a team.

Practicing articulation activities is important for several reasons, particularly for individuals with speech sound disorders or difficulties . Here are some key reasons why one should engage in articulation activities:

Communication Skills Improvement :

Articulation activities aim to enhance an individual’s ability to produce speech sounds accurately. Clear and precise articulation is crucial for effective communication , as it ensures that spoken words are easily understood by others.

Enhanced Speech Intelligibility:

Correct articulation contributes to improved speech intelligibility. When individuals can articulate sounds properly, it minimizes the risk of miscommunication and allows listeners to comprehend spoken language more easily.

Building Confidence :

Regular practice of articulation activities, especially when combined with positive reinforcement and support, can boost an individual’s confidence in their speech abilities. Increased confidence can lead to more willingness to engage in communication.

Reduced Social Anxiety :

Individuals with speech sound disorders may experience social anxiety due to concerns about being understood or judged. Articulation activities help address these concerns by improving speech clarity, thus reducing anxiety in social interactions.

Academic Success :

Clear and effective communication is essential for academic success. Articulation activities can benefit students by improving their speech skills, leading to better participation in class, understanding of instructional materials, and overall academic achievement.

Prevention of Academic and Social Challenges :

Articulation difficulties can sometimes lead to academic and social challenges. Addressing these challenges early through articulation activities can prevent potential issues and help individuals thrive academically and socially.

Enhanced Self-Expression:

Clear articulation allows individuals to express themselves more accurately. This is crucial in various aspects of life, including personal relationships, work environments, and social interactions.

Speech Development:

For children, engaging in articulation activities is a fundamental aspect of speech development. The correct production of speech sounds during early years lays the foundation for effective communication and language skills.

Improved Overall Communication Competence:

Articulation activities contribute to the overall development of communication competence. Individuals who practice articulation exercises are likely to develop better phonological awareness, auditory discrimination, and overall communication skills.

It’s important to note that the effectiveness of articulation activities often depends on the individual’s specific needs, the severity of their speech sound disorder, and the consistency of practice. Speech-language pathologists and educators may tailor articulation activities to address the unique requirements of each individual.

In summing up our exploration, getting the hang of clear and confident speech involves diving into the world of articulation activities, understanding their importance, and enjoying the perks of regular practice. These activities, ranging from tongue twisters and syllable repetition to engaging games like Articulation Bingo and Memory Games, form the foundation for getting the pronunciation right and building a base for effective communication. The fun and effective articulation activities we’ve explored aren’t just limited to kids; they cater to individuals of all ages , ensuring that the journey toward clear speech is both personalized and enjoyable.

Digging into the ‘why’ behind articulation activities reveals a host of benefits, from improved communication skills and enhanced speech clarity to boosted confidence and reduced social anxiety. The positive effects stretch to academic and professional success, making articulation exercises a handy tool for individuals aiming to excel in various aspects of life. To speak with clarity and confidence, individuals are encouraged to embrace a holistic approach, including regular recording, mindful pacing, and the artful use of pauses. The journey towards articulate and confident speech is unique for each person, marked by dedication, positivity, and the celebration of milestones . Seeking guidance from speech-language professionals can provide invaluable support along this fulfilling and ongoing journey toward improved communication skills.

Dive into this link for an abundance of information that will leave you enlightened and intrigued. Click now for a journey into the world of knowledge!

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Public Speaking Games

7 fun-filled speech activities for kids of all ages.

By:  Susan Dugdale   | Last modified: 03-29-2022

If you're looking for fun-filled  speech activities  check these out.

There are  7 tried and tested  public speaking games  on this page - ones that have been a great 'yee-haa-hooray' splendiferous success for me.  You'll find they'll adapt easily to suit children of all ages;  from around middle school to adulthood and don't require a great deal of set-up preparation.

• Connect the dots
• Tell us the history of
• Story starters
• The big fat lie
• In the news today

More public speaking games

• Guidelines for the games

Use them in your class room, with the members of your speech club, as an extension activity for a life skills or communications program, or for home schooling with your family.

They'll help by-pass anxiety, develop and nurture competent, confident public speaking skills, and do it with a large, welcome dollop of fun!

*  If you're not sure about how to introduce games to your class or group, scroll down to the foot of the page. You'll find handy 'how to begin' guidelines there.

1. Connect the Dots

How to play

Prepare a collection of word cards each with a familiar noun on it. You'll need at least 100. They could be names of famous people, common objects, colors, animals ... For example : bird, wheelbarrow, hammer, cow, witch, moon, grass, hat, elephant, computer, book, vase, elbow, photo, green, candlestick, shoe, painting, mug, plane, eclipse, Queen Elizabeth,  operation, halo, knife, eye, storm, girl, pillow, lid, thermometer, jungle, barn, wheel, thistle, steam, mud, bike, pink, Madonna  ...

Put the word cards into box or non-see through bag.

A player picks two cards and then must immediately begin telling a story connecting both words together convincingly. The story needn't be long, (one to two minutes is enough), complicated, or true!

Once your class is comfortable with connecting two words, add to your word collection and increase the number of cards selected to three or even four.

What this game teaches

In a word - transitions!

Moving from one idea to another smoothly, in a way that can be readily understood and followed by your audience, is a must-have public speaking skill.

Connect the Dots gives people the opportunity to practice.   It doesn't matter how disparate the "dots" or ideas  appear to be, a way can be found to link them, and with practice the ability to make those connections will become stronger and stronger.

An added benefit of the game is listening and learning from each other.

Connect the Dots - an example story

I've picked my two words. They are Queen Elizabeth and bike, and here's my speech!

"When you think of Queen Elizabeth, what do you see in your mind? Do you see an older woman wearing a diamond studded tiara staring grimly into the camera?

That diagonal sash across her chest proclaims dominion over the commonwealth realms. These include countries as diverse as Canada and Barbados - 32 of them in all. That's serious leadership - around 128 million people, including Prince Phillip, her husband, their four adult children, assorted wives and grandchildren.

Her daily duties would make most of us wince. She answers letters, talks to government officials, reads briefing papers, plans her diary, makes calls to charities, hospitals, factories, schools, museums or military units, performs civic duties like openings and investitures, and tours . That routine hasn't varied for the last 56 years. The Queen is an institution, revered and respected.

But she's also a person. And despite how difficult it may be to imagine, she'll have good days, bad days and days when, in the words of Cyndi Lauper, a girl just wants to have fun.

In my imagination, she wants to poke her tongue out at all the 'must and mustn't dos', toss the tiara sideways and shuck off the designer gowns.

She'd like to walk barefoot through wet grass and float on her back down a summer stream blowing bubbles. She'd like to gallop a horse around Hyde Park without a minder and in the afternoon ride a bike. Starting at the top of Primrose Hill she'll fly down, pedals whirring, yelling 'Look Ma no hands.' It will be glorious. It will be wonderful, and she will be free.

Perhaps it was a glimpse into unfettered being that convinced her to take up sky-diving with James Bond for opening of the 2012 Olympics. 86 years old and starring in a royal performance. She showed us. It's never too late to 'get on yer bike' in whatever form it takes. God save the Queen!"

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2. Tell us the history of ...

Prepare a starter list of events or things. Write them on slips of paper.

For example: a postage stamp, birthday cake, books, a zebra's stripes, a chimney, the tooth fairy, common sayings like 'a penny for your thoughts', 'a red rag to a bull', 'a pinch and a punch for the first of the month', April Fools Day, a wheel, a Christmas tree, ice cream, a ladder, Father Christmas, May Day, a siren, shaking hands on meeting someone...

Put the topic cards/papers into a non-see through bag. 

When it's their turn a player pulls a topic from the bag. They then must give an account of the history (story) behind the thing or event they've drawn.  It needn't be factual!  Encourage imagination, outrageous lies, flights of fantasy...

The goal of this public speaking game is sustained credible fluency. Aim for 1 - 2 minutes per story.

3. End lines

You'll need a collection of endings written on slips of paper.

For example: 'Just do it', 'Diamonds are forever', 'He's fallen in the water', 'Some like it hot', 'His bark is worse than his bite', 'Love makes the world go round', 'An apple a day keeps the doctor away', 'First up, best dressed', 'King for a day', 'Funny money', 'Laughter is the best medicine'...

Put the end lines into a non-see through bag.

Each player takes a turn to take an ending from the bag. The task is to tell a 1-2 minute story ending with the line they have selected.

4. Story Starters

Write opening sentences or phrases on slips of paper. You'll need one for each member of your group and then some more. For example: 'It was a dark and stormy night', 'I wish people would not say...', 'Yesterday I saw a herd of cows ', 'My favorite activity is bird watching', 'The wisest saying I ever heard was...', 'In 20 years time I will be...', 'It made me yell', 'All I want for Christmas is...', 'Something is terribly wrong...', 'The little voice inside my head...', 'This is the secret I've never shared before', 'I never knew what happened...', 'Sometimes I just want to...', 'You know it's Summer when...', 'Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you', 'The story made me want to...','I heard the best news this morning', 'The sound of people laughing...'

Put the slips of paper into a non-see through bag.

Nominate a person to begin. He/she reaches into the bag and pulls out a story starter. The starter they've drawn must be used to open their story.   A story can be built and extended however the speaker wishes.

5. Oink Substitution

In this game a commonly used word is chosen and then substituted with the word ' oink '. For example: If the selected word is  I , the speaker says  oink  instead.

Oink  can be played several ways.

Playing Oink using well-known stories

Make copies of well-known children's stories. For instance - Red Riding Hood, The Gingerbread Man or Three Little Pigs. (You will find many of them here: american literature.com has hundreds available.)

Next choose a regularly occurring word in each piece to substitute.

Eg. The word 'she' would be suitable in The Gingerbread Man story . Here's the opening paragraph given the 'oink' treatment.

"One day, the cook went into the kitchen to make some gingerbread. OINK took some flour and water, and treacle and ginger, and mixed them all well together, and OINK put in some more water to make it thin, and then some more flour to make it thick, and a little salt and some spice, and then OINK rolled it out into a beautiful, smooth, dark-yellow dough."

Decide who is to start. Ask them to choose a story. They are to read aloud for approximately one minute making sure they use 'oink' in place of the selected word.

Repeat for each member of your group.  Try to have each new reader of the same story pick up from where the last reader of it left off rather than repeat the same passage. 

Encourage authoritative readings, full of passion and drama!   

Using Oink as an extension activity

Another way to play  Oink  is as an extension of already known games. Try it with  One Minute Speeches , Story Starters or End Lines.

Once your group is confident, add the ' oink ' factor for even more fun! You'll find substitution hones thinking-while-you're-speaking skills really well.

6. The BIG Fat Lie

This game encourages the use of the imagination, develops fluency and, it's fun. In playing it your group will learn about body language too. How do you know when somebody is lying? How can you tell?

Each speaker is to stand so that everyone can see them clearly and share 3 things about themselves on a theme you set.

Examples of theme: holidays, the future, my favorite after school activities, when I was young, my beliefs, the best books I've read, the best adventures I've had..., my family...

Two of the things they say about themselves in relation to the theme are to be true. The third is not .

When they've finished speaking, ask the class/group to identify the lie. And when they have, ask them how they knew. What alerted them to it being untrue?

PS. This makes a great icebreaker for groups getting together for the first time.

7. In the News Today

In the last activity making up of this collection of 7 public speaking games, your class/group are broadcasters, anchor people for a news show.

The news is whatever has happened during the day. It could be an event on the way to school like a traffic jam. It might be a new menu in the canteen or lunch room. It could be an announcement the principal made.

It doesn't matter how trivial the happening; encourage the big news treatment for anything at all, even a new set of pencils!

The aim of the exercise is give whatever subject they choose the standard news format. They'll need to cover who, what, where, why, when and how .

Once they've mastered that encourage experimentation; adding introduction hooks, on-the-spot interviews, switch backs and summaries.

If you liked these games ...

You'll love my ebook!

28 public speaking games (with many more variations and extensions), full instructions, PLUS printable topic, tongue twister, poem and image sheets.

A complete one-stop-select-print-go public speaking resource for busy people.

Find out more   >>

Before you begin the games with your class

Lead in guidelines.

Taking the time to set the games up will ensure they go well and go on to become an accepted and eagerly anticipated part of your classroom activities.

• If your class is new to playing public speaking games start with the simple activities first, for example, the Story Starters.
• Model or demonstrate each game before you ask them to play themselves.
• If it's too threatening to have the entire focus of the class on one person at a time - split into smaller groups of 4-6 players and have them work simultaneously. It will be rowdy but worth it!
• Establish your ground rules for positive participation. You can check out the ones I used in my teaching here: rules for public speaking games
• Include full class quickfire feedback sessions at the end of each game. I found these invaluable for drawing attention to and reinforcing what had been done well. Be sure to acknowledge any gain - not matter how small!
• Keep the timing snappy. Too much of any one particular activity will become tedious. Keep it flowing along.

For more freebie fun filled public speaking games to play with your class:

• 5 best-loved improv games
• 10 impromptu speaking practice activities
• Developing word power exercises
• And yet more public speaking activities , some of them with printables to download.

What's the difference between the freebie public speaking pages and your ebook?

The ebook has the best of all the games on my site (including the ones on the pages above) and then some more.

Plus, it has full instructions for using each of the games and printables. It is the type of one-stop-time-saving resource I wanted to find when I was full time teaching and didn't .

My freebie pages are good but if your commitment to leading/teaching a public speaking class is ongoing, the ebook is better, more complete.

Why not check it out?

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Little Ways To Make Learning Fun!

Card Games, Field Trips and Playing with Your Kids are Excellent Ways to Make Learning Fun! Image Courtesy of Shutterstock.

School is just about back in session after the long holiday break and your kids are chomping at the bit to get back to the books!  Is this the case at your house? Perhaps NOT!  For many kids, the thought of school, homework and learning are dreary tasks and not something typically viewed as fun. For many, learning and study correlate with serious and tedious. Believe or not, there are ways to make learning fun and effective and something your children will look forward to. Of course, there is always the moaning and groaning about getting back to a busy homework schedule, tests and turning in assignments but with a few tips and tricks, you can turn the negative into a positive and make the learning experience more fun for the kids.

Make Learning Fun!

The Washington Post wrote about this topic and found that children’s brains often respond better to the learning process when the learning environment is more fun, rather than serious.  In an interview with Sean Slade, Director of Healthy School Communities, he stated, “ truth is that when the joy and comfort are scrubbed from the classroom and replaced with homogeneity, and when spontaneity is replaced with conformity, students’ brains are distanced from effective information processing and long-term memory storage. The highest-level executive thinking, making of connections, and “aha” moments are more likely to occur in an atmosphere of “exuberant discovery,” where students of all ages retain that kindergarten enthusiasm of embracing each day with the joy of learning. ”

How can we as parents make this happen?  There are a few simple, yet effective ways to make learning fun for your child.

Make Learning Practical: How many times do you hear your children (or yourself) ask why will I ever need to know these math equations? How will these fractions apply to my life? If you can demonstrate how fractions and math are pertinent to our everyday life, the learning will be more enjoyable. Take a pizza or a cake and cut into quarters, halves, thirds, etc.  Your child will be able to visualize what a fraction of a whole really is. How about cooking or building? These are ways in which to engage your child into learning proper measurements, equations and yes, the dreaded fractions.

Make Learning Real: What are your kids learning about in school this week?  What is the news in your neck of the woods? Find a theme that your child is learning and look for ways in your community to visit something similar to make it come alive! Learning world history? Why not visit the local museum or historical society to see old pictures and news clippings from long ago. Learning about animals or anatomy? How about a trip to the zoo to see animals in real life? Sure, a museum trip may evoke a groan or two, but if it relates to something your child is learning, they will be surprised how interesting it can be.

Make Learning a Game: Do you get your weekly workouts from a structured gym, or from a weekly game of pickup basketball? Isn’t your workout much more fun when it’s in the form of a game? The same goes for learning. Think of the many family-friendly games that you can play with your kids. Card games such as Go Fish and Concentration and board games such as Monopoly and Trouble are a great way to help your kids learn numbers, math and, best of all, sportsmanship and patience.

Go ahead, try these tips and tricks and your child will be learning and having fun at the same time. What a perfect combo!

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How to Make Learning Fun

Last Updated: April 10, 2024

This article was co-authored by Emily Listmann, MA . Emily Listmann is a Private Tutor and Life Coach in Santa Cruz, California. In 2018, she founded Mindful & Well, a natural healing and wellness coaching service. She has worked as a Social Studies Teacher, Curriculum Coordinator, and an SAT Prep Teacher. She received her MA in Education from the Stanford Graduate School of Education in 2014. Emily also received her Wellness Coach Certificate from Cornell University and completed the Mindfulness Training by Mindful Schools. This article has been viewed 101,361 times.

As an educator or parent, it is often a challenge to make learning appear fun to your students and kids. If traditional methods of learning aren’t engaging them, it is time to think outside of the box. Capture their attention with individualized, creative, and tech-based methods of learning.

Making Learning Personal

• As an educator, take time to ask your students about their hobbies and interests. If possible, find a way to incorporate these interests into your lesson plans. Also, allow your students to suggest topics and or bring in materials, such as books, games, or apps, that they enjoy and want to share with the class.
• As a parent, find ways to merge your child’s interests with educational content. If they are interested in trucks, find books and educational games about trucks. If they are into music, use sheet music to explore fractions.

• If they have trouble sitting still, give them plenty of breaks to move around. If they are visual learners, incorporate lots of images into your lessons.
• If you are unsure about your students' learning styles, try using a quiz or quick assessment to get an idea. There are a number of these available for free online. If you have the resources, you may even consider bringing in a specialist. [1] X Trustworthy Source Edutopia Educational nonprofit organization focused on encouraging and celebrating classroom innovation Go to source

• Assign each student a topic and ask them to prepare a lesson on their topic—it is now their responsibility to know that topic inside and out. Once they have prepared a lesson, have them present the material to a small group or in front of the class.
• Have students work in pairs or small groups. Instead of asking you for help, encourage them to rely on each other to solve any problems they encounter. Assign them group projects, which allow them to engage one another and make learning more fun.
• Partner a student that is struggling with a student that has mastered a topic. Ideally, the student that is struggling will ask the other student questions.
• As a parent, provide your child with the chance to teach you what they are learning. If your child is struggling to solve a problem, don’t give them the answer. Instead, ask them specific questions about the content, such as “How do you know ____?” or “How would you solve ____?” [2] X Research source

• Spend one-on-one time with them. Most children like receiving individual attention because it makes them feel important. When you meet a child's desire for affirmation, they are more likely to be receptive to the lesson.
• When the kids sit down for quiet reading time, take the opportunity to do some reading of your own. [3] X Research source

Making Learning Accessible and Relevant

• Incorporate more arts and craft projects into your lessons.
• Have students move around to different learning stations.
• Group students by interests or strengths. Provide them with activities that let them explore a topic in a way that engages them.

• As an educator, select field trips that promote hands-on learning. For example, if you are studying your nation’s government, take them to your state’s capitol building.
• As a parent, you have the luxury to use your time and resources a little more creatively. Take your child to an art museum out of state to see their favorite painting or to a distant historic site to experience your nation’s history. Sign your child up for an engineering camp or have them shadow one of your friends at an office.

• When teaching students about the judicial branch, have your students hold a mock-trial.
• When younger students study historical figures, ask them to dress up as their subject for a formal presentation.
• Provide your children with the freedom to express themselves through a variety of forms. Let them choose how they express their learning by giving them multiple options for projects. You could, for example, let them pick between a writing a story, drawing a picture, or performing a reenactment for a history lesson.

• Find a relevant educational game through a quick internet search or download an app on your tablet.
• Create a review game based on a popular game show or hold a trivia tournament.
• Encourage your students or children to play board games or card games. [4] X Research source

Joseph Meyer

Effective teaching strategies consider a student's individual strengths. Tailoring instruction to a student's existing skills and encouraging collaborative activities can improve a student's outcome. Recognizing diverse learning styles allows for a stronger approach, fostering potential in all learners.

• To explore mathematical and business principles, have the kids set up a store or lemonade stand. Encourage them to set prices, keep track of the inventory, and account for the money.
• Ask students to find recent news articles or tv clips that relate to what they are learning in school.
• Conduct a mock trial.
• Host a salon and ask each person to come as an important historical figure.
• Reenact a famous battle.
• Hold a mini-model UN session.

Incorporating Games and Technology into Lessons

• Instead of writing a journal, let them to document their experiences with a digital camera.
• Allow students to use computers and tablets to conduct research.
• Ask students to build websites, create videos, or develop a podcast.
• Allow kids to listen to required readings.

• In addition to lecturing, use digital presentation tools to present your lessons.
• If you are a teacher, incorporate brief educational videos into your lectures. If you are a parent, use brief educational videos to explain concepts your child is struggling to grasp.
• Instead of learning a world language, allow your kids to learn how to code.

• Show and listen to materials that are relevant to what the kids are learning.
• As a reward for completing a great work of literature, take your class or child to see the theatrical adaptation.

• Improving kids tech skills
• Portability and availability
• Exposure to alternative methods of learning
• Utilizing leisure time

Expert Q&A

• Be sure that you are checking in regularly with your students to get their feedback, especially after you try something new in the class. This will help you better understand what kinds of tools and techniques are the right balance of challenging and accessible for your class. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://www.edutopia.org/multiple-intelligences-assessment
• ↑ http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/effective-teaching-strategies/the-benefits-of-making-the-shift-to-student-centered-teaching/
• ↑ http://www.wahm.com/articles/how-to-make-learning-fun-for-your-kids.html
• ↑ http://www.wahm.com/articles/how-to-make-learning-fun-for-your-kids.html , http://www.scholastic.com/parents/resources/article/motivate-school-success/make-learning-fun-your-3rd-grader

About This Article

To make learning fun, tailor lessons to students’ interests and hobbies to better engage their interest. For example if a student is interested in trucks, find books and educational games about trucks. You can also allow students to bring in materials, such as books, games, or apps to share with the class. In addition, try structuring your students’ activities around their needs. For example, if they prefer to learn visually, incorporate lots of images into lessons. In addition, try creating hands-on opportunities with things like arts and crafts, taking them on field trips, or setting up a lemonade stand to make abstract concepts like math more fun and relevant. For more tips from our Education co-author, including how to incorporate games and technology, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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20+ Ways to Make Learning Fun

July 5, 2022 by pathway2success Leave a Comment

Making the Case for Making Learning Fun

Keeping the learning process fun and fresh isn’t just something extra to consider before a holiday break or on a Friday afternoon. Adding creative and fun ideas into your lessons can help more learners feel engaged and motivated. This can be a critical element to reaching all learning, even those who struggle with completing work or aren’t as interested in the content area you are teaching.

It makes teaching fun for educators, too. Sometimes, it’s easy to get bogged down with the high demands of curriculum and expectations with state testing. As an educator myself, I’ve been there. Times like this are the perfect opportunity to do something new and re-ignite that spark for teaching.

Most importantly, when kids love learning, they will remember it. Use some of these strategies to help give your learners a fun, creative, and memorable experience in the classroom.

20+ Strategies for Making Learning Fun

Incorporate movement. Sitting at a desk all day isn’t good for anyone! Get kids up and moving while learning content. Have students toss paper basketballs into the recycling bin when they get a review question right or do jumping jacks as you practice multiplication facts. Whatever it is, get kids moving.

Spend time outside. It can really transform the learning environment just to step outside on nice days. Do an outdoor read aloud in the shade or just head out for an outdoor mindfulness nature walk.

Use student interests. The truth is that kids can be interested in some great topics that can be integrated into what you are already teaching! If you are learning about comprehension strategies, read a short book about dirt bikes. If you are focusing on literary devices, use songs that kids listen to. While you are at it, add your own interests as well!

Use task cards. Sometimes, it’s nice to change things up from a worksheet or book. Task cards can be a great way to get kids talking and working together on important skills. There are many different ways to use task cards, from center work to group discussions. You can even have students take turns answering task cards while playing a board game. Grab these free social problem-solving task cards to test it out!

Create learning centers or stations. Set up different learning activities around the room. These can be all on the same topic or different, depending on your learning goals. After 15 minutes or so at each station, ring a bell and have kids move on to the next. This is a great way to get kids moving and keep them interested on fresh content.

Invite a guest speaker. Find a community member who is willing to come in for a short period and talk about a topic. Consider reaching out to parents to see what topics they are experts on.

Have a class debate. Debates are a great way for kids to share their ideas in constructive ways. Start with a statement and have students choose a side, such as “homework should be required in all schools.” Of course, debates can be used on almost any topic, so they are a great way to engage learners.

Give brain breaks. We all need breaks throughout the day. Use brain breaks strategically to motivate kids and teens. Some of my favorite activities are nature brain breaks , such as butterfly breathing and a rainforest visualization. Another option is sorting through free YouTube videos to find a guided brain break that meets the needs of your learners.

Use reader’s theater. A reader’s theater activity is a script that students read from. The idea is that each student has a different part, just like a script from a movie. This is a great activity to build reading fluency, but it also can allow kids to work on understanding social cues. Something wonderful about reader’s theater scripts is that they can be used for many different subjects and topics.

Use digital activities. Explore learning in a new way with digital and interactive workbooks. These lessons and activities have moveable pieces on Google Slides to make learning new material a little bit more engaging. This Social Emotional Learning Digital Workbook is always a favorite.

Take an indoor field trip. Add some fun by taking a field trip to another location in your school. Visit the gym, the art room, or another teacher’s classroom to learn together.

Use crafts. When paired with a lesson, crafts are an excellent way to make learning meaningful. Best of all, there are endless options for crafts in the classroom on any topic. Make a fortune teller , a spinning wheel , design a poster, or more.

Create a makerspace. A makerspace is an area where learners are free to explore new ideas, build curiosity, and think outside the box. Read more about how you can set up a makerspace in your classroom .

Switch rooms. Find a colleague who is willing to do a room swap with you for a day or period. This seems silly, but it’s just another way to add some element of change to the day to keep things interesting!

Play learning games. Kids and teens always love a good game. The best part is that so many games lend themselves to being true learning tools. For example, you can play Pictionary with science vocabulary terms. Another idea is to play any board game and have students answer quiz questions before taking their turn. Even social emotional skills can be integrated and practiced with games .

Use an escape room activity. Escape rooms are collaborative puzzles kids must solve to unlock a code word. Some of my favorite escape rooms are for social emotional skills. They involve some prep work ahead of time but pay off in the end.

Work for a “Fun Friday.” Give something special for kids to work for! A “Fun Friday” is a reward day (or just part of the day) that kids earn through completing tasks or showing positive behavior. You can have your students work for it any way you choose. In my classroom, when students completed their work, our Friday class together was spent watching a movie that they picked out, coloring, or doing a fun craft. It’s a healthy way to keep kids motivated and add something fun to look forward to at the end of the week. Use this free reward list to help you come up with ideas.

Give student choice. Giving kids and teens a choice in what they are learning can make a huge difference. If practicing reading strategies, considering letting kids choose the topic for the text they are reading. Another option is to give a forced choice between two or three options. For example, when showing what they’ve learned on a topic, have kids choose between writing an essay, creating a Powerpoint presentation, or creating a storybook.

Integrate arts and music. Different art and music activities can be integrated right into the curriculum in a seamless way. Just as an example, when teaching about compare and contrast, have students listen to two different songs. Have them make a list of ways they are similar and different.

Have students lead. Allow kids to be the teacher and leaders themselves. Many kids will love the extra responsibility, so you might even use it as a reward.

Create a challenge. I can vividly remember back to learning my math facts during my own elementary years. My teacher created a challenge so that for each fact you learned, you earned another element to work towards an ice cream party (if you learned your 1’s, you earned a bowl; when you learned your 2’s, you earned a spoon, and so on). Create a special challenge to help motivate learners in a fun and engaging way.

Incorporate hands-on learning. Instead of writing about a novel, consider giving kids the chance to build a diorama of their favorite scene. Rather than just reading about map skills, have students make their own maps of made-up locations. There are always lots of opportunities for hands-on learning.

Perform experiments. Hands-on experiments are a fun and meaningful way to spark interest in the classroom. One of my favorite experiments was when we were learning about evaporation. Have students fill a cup of water. Take a walk out to the parking lot (or play area with concrete). Spill out that water and have students draw around the water with chalk. In just a few hours, they’ll come back to notice the water has vanished. As simple as this sounds, it is such a remarkable way to create that sense of wonder kids need when learning a new topic.

Use role-play. Act out scenes from a story or novel. Role-play can also be a great tool to build social skills by acting out scenarios.

Plan special days. Dress up like your favorite character or pajama day! Plan a special day that gives kids something special to look forward to. You can even list options and have kids vote on their favorite day.

I hope you love these ideas. Let me know what other strategies you are using to add fun and excitement to your classroom!

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10 Ways to Make Learning Fun for Students

Naomi Shi/Pexels

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• M.S., Education, Buffalo State College
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Remember when you were a child and kindergarten was a time to play and learn to tie your shoes? Well, times have changed. It seems like all we hear about is the common core standards and how politicians are pushing for students to be "college ready." How can we make learning fun again? Use ten techniques to help you engage students in the classroom.

Create Simple Science Experiments

Incorporating anything that is hands-on is a great way to make learning fun. Try simple science experiments that will have students exploring density and buoyancy, or try any hands-on experiment. Before introducing any of these concepts, use a graphic organizer to have students predict what they think will happen during every experiment they conduct.

Allow Students to Work Together

There has been extensive research on using cooperative learning strategies in the classroom. Research says that when students work together, they retain information quicker and longer, they develop critical thinking skills, and they build their communication skills. Those are just a few of the benefits cooperative learning has on students.

Incorporate Hands-On Activities

Hands-on activities are a fun way for students to learn. Alphabet activities are not just for preschoolers. Use fun, hands-on alphabet, math, English, and geography activities to help students learn in a memorable way.

Give Students a Brain Break

Elementary students work very hard each day and they deserve a little break. For most teachers, it's easy to see when students have had enough and are in need of a quick pick-me-up. Research has shown that students learn best when they have a brain break throughout the school day.

Go on a Field Trip

What's more fun than a field trip? Field trips are a great way for students to connect what they are learning in school with the outside world. They get a hands-on view of everything they learned in school, and they get to connect what they learned to what they are seeing at the exhibit.

Make Review Time Fun

When your students hear the words "it's review time," you may hear a few sighs and groans. You can turn those groans into grins if you make it a fun learning experience. 

Incorporate Technology Into Lessons

Technology is a great way to make learning fun. Research has shown that using technology in the classroom can increase student learning and engagement. While using overhead projectors and tabletop computers can still facilitate student interest, they just may become a thing of the past. Smartphones and tablets offer a variety of classroom apps that can meet all of your ​students' instructional needs.

Create Fun Learning Centers

Any activity that gets students working together and up and moving around will be fun. Create fun learning centers that give students a choice of study topics. You can also design centers that allow them to use computers or electronic devices.

Teach to Students Ability

Like most educators, you probably learned about Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligence Theory when you were in college. You learned about the eight different types of intelligence that guide the way we learn and process information. Use this theory to teach to each students' ability. This will make learning much easier for the students, as well as a lot more fun.

Limit Your Class Rules

Too many class rules and expectations can hinder learning. When the classroom environment resembles a boot camp, where is all the fun? Choose three to five specific and attainable rules, and try to adhere to this limit.

• 10 Ways to Keep Your Class Interesting
• Essential Core Teaching Strategies
• What to Do When Students Lack Interest
• 10 Ways to Make Education Relevant
• Elementary School Summer Session Activities by Subject
• 5 Successful Review Activities for Elementary Students
• How to Have a Safe, Fun, and Successful Field Trip
• What Is a Brain Break?
• Varying Assignments to Enhance Student Learning Styles
• Using Effective Instructional Strategies
• Benefits of Cooperative Learning
• 4 Fun Ideas for Reluctant Readers
• How to Set Up Classroom Learning Centers
• 7 Ways to Take Control of Your Classroom to Reduce Student Misbehavior
• Choice Motivates Students When Rewards and Punishment Don't Work
• 5 Fun Field Trip Ideas for Elementary School

10 Ways to Make Speech Therapy Practice Fun

Practicing speech therapy activities at home, and using communication-building techniques during everyday interactions with your child, is one of the best ways to improve their speech and language development. This isn't just my firsthand experience as a speech-language pathologist--it's backed by a  mountain of research . 

But sometimes it can feel overwhelming to think about fitting in practice and motivating kids to participate. I get it! Speech practice is definitely a lot of work for kiddos, but there are plenty of ways to make it fun.

Read on for some tips and tricks to keep your child motivated to practice their speech. Every child has their own unique learning style. Once you find what works best for your kiddo, you’ll see how quickly speech practice can go from something they tolerate, to something they actually look forward to.

1. Get up and get moving

A simple way to introduce some excitement into speech therapy practice is to pair it with movement activities. Did you know that some children learn best when they're physically moving around? Movement stimulates the brain, and a little exercise is never a bad thing! If you think this is true for your child, try some of these activities while you practice:

Play hide and seek

Go on a scavenger hunt

Play Simon Says

Create an obstacle course

Toss a ball back and forth

2. Try out new crafts

Similar to movement activities, some children pay attention best while they're participating in a creative, hands-on activity. Crafts are the perfect example! 

Crafts are particularly well-suited for practicing  articulation , or speech sounds. We'll use the /s/ sound for this example. 

Pick a craft for your child to make that's centered on the /s/ sound. You could make a  s nake out of a paper plate and let your child color it, practicing the hissing “sssssss” sound while they work. Sock puppets, coloring books, gingerbread houses, and Play-Doh are other great examples, but any craft will work as long as it helps your child target their specific speech sounds.

Crafts are also a great way to incorporate  receptive language skills . You can easily have your child follow single or multistep directions. Give directions for each step of the craft and see how well you child responds. For example, "First, roll the Play-Doh into a ball, then stretch it out to make a snake!" Hopefully they'll be having so much fun they won’t even realize they’re working.

3. Turn on the music

Music is a wonderful way to target speech goals--especially when it comes to early language! 

For toddlers and early communicators, sing songs or nursery rhymes together. Pause occasionally as you sing to give your child opportunities to fill in the blank.

You can even practice having your child imitate your gestures with songs that involve playing with their hands. These are songs like “Wheels On The Bus” and “The Itsy Bitsy Spider.” Imitating hand motions is a skill that can help your child increase their motor movements and expressive language abilities, which includes how well they use language to communicate their needs, wants, and desires.

4. Take practice outside

Getting outside is the perfect way to lift everyone’s mood  and  have fun practicing together! You can easily incorporate some speech practice while you go on a walk together, play on the swing, or spend a few hours at the playground. 

Let’s use the example of swinging. This is a great way to help your child expand the length of their phrases during speech, moving from saying single words to using multi-word phrases. 

When your child swings towards you, hold the swing for a second and see if your child will request that you continue pushing them. They may say “swing,” “more,” or “go.” Model what your child said in a phrase that is one word longer than what they offered. For example, if they say, “Swing!” then model, “More swing!” or "Swing please." Wait expectantly and see if they imitate your longer phrase. After their request, immediately reward them by pushing them on the swing! 

5. Pick relatable topics

When working with your child, take a "child-led" approach. In other words, try to choose target words and questions that center around their natural interests. For example, if your child really loves dinosaurs, pick discussion topics or target words focused on their favorite prehistoric creature. 

It will be much easier for your child to engage in something that they enjoy talking about--so use this to your advantage. This is also a great strategy to use when choosing books to read together. 

6. Play games

Your house is probably stacked with games your child already enjoys playing, like Candyland, puzzles, or word searches. The trick here is to incorporate speech practice into their favorite game in a way that feels natural. 

Here's a simple example: Let your child first pick out a game they love. Then, before each of their turns, have them practice pronouncing a target word (or any other speech-related task). When playtime is purposeful and structured, it keeps children motivated and rewards them for their efforts. 

7. Make it a competition

You can also use games and other forms of competition to level up practice! This can be something simple like, “Whoever wins this game gets to pick dessert tonight!” or “If you win this game, you get to skip one chore this week.” They'll be sure to take you up on the challenge! 

8. Use reward charts

Some children benefit from little rewards over time that lead to an even bigger prize. For example, you could try some version of a sticker chart. Every time your child practices their speech homework for at least 15 minutes, they get to put a sticker on their chart. Once your child fills up the weekly or monthly chart (whatever is fitting), they receive a previously agreed upon reward. 

These rewards can be things like picking a toy out at the store, a trip to the park, or a visit to the ice cream parlor. Just find what’s most encouraging for your child. 

9. Let your child be the “teacher”

Take it from me: Kids  love  this activity! Flip the roles and let your child be the one to ask you speech questions for a change. Many kiddos think it's exhilarating to be in the "driver's seat" and do the quizzing themselves. 

Let’s pretend that you're practicing the /th/ sound with your child. You can try letting your child present target words to you, like "throw," "think," or "thunder." As you play along, make sure to pronounce some words correctly, and others incorrectly. Have your child listen attentively so they can identify your mistakes and then promptly correct them for you. This serves as practice for them. Even though your child is playing the teacher, they’re really doing the work! 

10. Set aside special toys

Find some special toys you already have at home and designate these as “speech” toys. Only bring them out when it's time for your child to practice. The toys will feel a little “newer” and more special than toys they play with daily. This will help your child look forward to speech practice! 

I hope these tips help you and your child get in a new groove that keeps practice exciting! The bottom line is simply to play together and have fun. Take away any pressure you may feel to get things exactly right, and just enjoy spending time together. Progress will come naturally when everyone is relaxed and having a blast!

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How to Make Your Speeches Exciting

Let's continue the topic of becoming a more memorable speaker that I previously discussed here , here , here , and here .

Among the things I said was, the moment you strop trying to be a memorable public speaker is the moment you're able to become one . I also discussed knowing clearly what you want to share, ways to turn your passion into a powerful speech, externalizing physically what's inside you (like actors do), and "just" having a conversation with your audience.

If you speak with this level of control, you'll connect with and inspire listeners! Learn more in my new book ,  now available ,  Speak for Leadership . 

Make Your Speeches Exciting and Rewarding

Now let’s go one step further—by making your speeches exciting.

First, let’s discuss an essential component of the learning experience for anyone listening to a speech. It’s really an amplifier in terms of how your speech is received (and how you are perceived). It’s dopamine .

Want to know more about how to connect with audiences? Download my Free resource , "Great Speaking? It's About Performance Over Content."

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter released in the brain when you experience a reward of some kind. If you discover something new and interesting, dopamine is released. Similarly, if you’re setting out on an adventure (as an exceptional speaker will get audience members to feel), again, dopamine is present. Thrill-seekers, gamblers, and those addicted to chemical substances crave this strong stimulus-and-reward response.

So do learners —provided that they perceive what they’re being taught as new and exciting. Those experiences then become “sticky” and therefore memorable. And conversely, where dopamine levels remain low, the experience is eminently forgettable. As neuroscientist Martha Burns tells us, “the more motivated and interested we are in an activity the more dopamine is released and the better we remember it.” She recommends the acronym NEAR to understand this response: N ew, E xciting, a nd R ewarding. 6

Here's great news: you can learn how to develop this type of strong relationship with audiences! Learn how in my Free Guide , "6 Rules of Effective Public Speaking."

Now think about this in terms of public speaking. A major reason most presentations are forgettable is because the speaker plays it safe. He or she may think, “Presentations are always done this way in my industry, and so I’m going to go along.” Basically, these speakers are hoping to get through their talk with their skin intact. Doesn’t sound like a new, exciting or rewarding approach, does it?

Hey, Wanna Have Some Fun ?

Of course, just as with financial investments, your tolerance for risk plays a part in terms of how far you as speaker are willing to go in terms of newness and creating excitement. But at least think about how you might do things differently!

For instance, do you know how to use PowerPoint effectively? Most presenters don't. Find out how in my Free cheat sheet , "5 Rules for Succeeding With PowerPoint."

If a slide deck is used in every presentation in your department, what would happen if you didn’t use one in yours? Or vice versa. Other questions to ask yourself: “What would my talk be like if it were shorter than the norm, or conversely, more comprehensive?” “Would some discussion between me and the audience be productive?” “What might happen if this became a team presentation rather than just me speaking?” “What if I invited an audience member on stage for a demonstration?”

Any of these approaches—or others you might come up with on your own—may seem like a new path forward to an audience. And that, as they say, is a good thing!

And of course, to make a presentation more exciting and rewarding, always base your approach as closely as possible on the needs of the group. Remember, your goal is always to help listeners be better off for having listened to you. The best way to be memorable isn’t to be considered a smooth talker. It is to improve your listeners’ lives in some small or big way.

And have fun! To see how being excited yourself can help make you compelling to watch, catch Hans Rosling or Benjamin Zander in their passionate TED talks.

6   Martha Burns, “Dopamine and Learning: What the Brain’s Reward Center Can Teach Educators,” Scientific Learning, September 18, 2012. https://www.scilearn.com/blog dopamine-learning-what-brain%E2%80%99s-reward-center-can-teach-educators.

The above article is excerpted from my new book,  Speak for Leadership . Click   here   or below to learn more and to get your copy !

You should follow me on Twitter   here .

Gary Genard  is an actor, author, and expert in public speaking training and overcoming speaking fear. His company, Boston-based The Genard Method offers  live 1:1 Zoom executive coaching   and  corporate group training  worldwide. In 2021 for the eighth consecutive year, Gary has been ranked by Global Gurus as  One of the World’s Top 30 Communication Professionals .  He is the author of the Amazon Best-Seller  How to Give a Speech . His second book,  Fearless Speaking ,  was named in 2019 as "One of the 100 Best Confidence Books of All Time." His handbook for presenting in videoconferences, Speaking Virtually   offers strategies and tools for developing virtual presence in online meetings. Contact Gary here.   

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How to write a speech that your audience remembers

Whether in a work meeting or at an investor panel, you might give a speech at some point. And no matter how excited you are about the opportunity, the experience can be nerve-wracking . 

But feeling butterflies doesn’t mean you can’t give a great speech. With the proper preparation and a clear outline, apprehensive public speakers and natural wordsmiths alike can write and present a compelling message. Here’s how to write a good speech you’ll be proud to deliver.

What is good speech writing?

Good speech writing is the art of crafting words and ideas into a compelling, coherent, and memorable message that resonates with the audience. Here are some key elements of great speech writing:

• It begins with clearly understanding the speech's purpose and the audience it seeks to engage. 
• A well-written speech clearly conveys its central message, ensuring that the audience understands and retains the key points. 
• It is structured thoughtfully, with a captivating opening, a well-organized body, and a conclusion that reinforces the main message. 
• Good speech writing embraces the power of engaging content, weaving in stories, examples, and relatable anecdotes to connect with the audience on both intellectual and emotional levels. 

Ultimately, it is the combination of these elements, along with the authenticity and delivery of the speaker , that transforms words on a page into a powerful and impactful spoken narrative.

What makes a good speech?

A great speech includes several key qualities, but three fundamental elements make a speech truly effective:

Clarity and purpose

Remembering the audience, cohesive structure.

While other important factors make a speech a home run, these three elements are essential for writing an effective speech.

The main elements of a good speech

The main elements of a speech typically include:

• Introduction: The introduction sets the stage for your speech and grabs the audience's attention. It should include a hook or attention-grabbing opening, introduce the topic, and provide an overview of what will be covered.
• Opening/captivating statement: This is a strong statement that immediately engages the audience and creates curiosity about the speech topics.
• Thesis statement/central idea: The thesis statement or central idea is a concise statement that summarizes the main point or argument of your speech. It serves as a roadmap for the audience to understand what your speech is about.
• Body: The body of the speech is where you elaborate on your main points or arguments. Each point is typically supported by evidence, examples, statistics, or anecdotes. The body should be organized logically and coherently, with smooth transitions between the main points.
• Supporting evidence: This includes facts, data, research findings, expert opinions, or personal stories that support and strengthen your main points. Well-chosen and credible evidence enhances the persuasive power of your speech.
• Transitions: Transitions are phrases or statements that connect different parts of your speech, guiding the audience from one idea to the next. Effective transitions signal the shifts in topics or ideas and help maintain a smooth flow throughout the speech.
• Counterarguments and rebuttals (if applicable): If your speech involves addressing opposing viewpoints or counterarguments, you should acknowledge and address them. Presenting counterarguments makes your speech more persuasive and demonstrates critical thinking.
• Conclusion: The conclusion is the final part of your speech and should bring your message to a satisfying close. Summarize your main points, restate your thesis statement, and leave the audience with a memorable closing thought or call to action.
• Closing statement: This is the final statement that leaves a lasting impression and reinforces the main message of your speech. It can be a call to action, a thought-provoking question, a powerful quote, or a memorable anecdote.
• Delivery and presentation: How you deliver your speech is also an essential element to consider. Pay attention to your tone, body language, eye contact , voice modulation, and timing. Practice and rehearse your speech, and try using the 7-38-55 rule to ensure confident and effective delivery.

While the order and emphasis of these elements may vary depending on the type of speech and audience, these elements provide a framework for organizing and delivering a successful speech.

How to structure a good speech

You know what message you want to transmit, who you’re delivering it to, and even how you want to say it. But you need to know how to start, develop, and close a speech before writing it. 

Think of a speech like an essay. It should have an introduction, conclusion, and body sections in between. This places ideas in a logical order that the audience can better understand and follow them. Learning how to make a speech with an outline gives your storytelling the scaffolding it needs to get its point across.

Here’s a general speech structure to guide your writing process:

• Explanation 1
• Explanation 2
• Explanation 3

How to write a compelling speech opener

Some research shows that engaged audiences pay attention for only 15 to 20 minutes at a time. Other estimates are even lower, citing that people stop listening intently in fewer than 10 minutes . If you make a good first impression at the beginning of your speech, you have a better chance of interesting your audience through the middle when attention spans fade. 

Implementing the INTRO model can help grab and keep your audience’s attention as soon as you start speaking. This acronym stands for interest, need, timing, roadmap, and objectives, and it represents the key points you should hit in an opening. 

Here’s what to include for each of these points: 

• Interest : Introduce yourself or your topic concisely and speak with confidence . Write a compelling opening statement using relevant data or an anecdote that the audience can relate to.
• Needs : The audience is listening to you because they have something to learn. If you’re pitching a new app idea to a panel of investors, those potential partners want to discover more about your product and what they can earn from it. Read the room and gently remind them of the purpose of your speech. 
• Timing : When appropriate, let your audience know how long you’ll speak. This lets listeners set expectations and keep tabs on their own attention span. If a weary audience member knows you’ll talk for 40 minutes, they can better manage their energy as that time goes on. 
• Routemap : Give a brief overview of the three main points you’ll cover in your speech. If an audience member’s attention starts to drop off and they miss a few sentences, they can more easily get their bearings if they know the general outline of the presentation.
• Objectives : Tell the audience what you hope to achieve, encouraging them to listen to the end for the payout. 

Writing the middle of a speech

The body of your speech is the most information-dense section. Facts, visual aids, PowerPoints — all this information meets an audience with a waning attention span. Sticking to the speech structure gives your message focus and keeps you from going off track, making everything you say as useful as possible.

Limit the middle of your speech to three points, and support them with no more than three explanations. Following this model organizes your thoughts and prevents you from offering more information than the audience can retain. 

Using this section of the speech to make your presentation interactive can add interest and engage your audience. Try including a video or demonstration to break the monotony. A quick poll or survey also keeps the audience on their toes. 

Wrapping the speech up

To you, restating your points at the end can feel repetitive and dull. You’ve practiced countless times and heard it all before. But repetition aids memory and learning , helping your audience retain what you’ve told them. Use your speech’s conclusion to summarize the main points with a few short sentences.

Try to end on a memorable note, like posing a motivational quote or a thoughtful question the audience can contemplate once they leave. In proposal or pitch-style speeches, consider landing on a call to action (CTA) that invites your audience to take the next step.

How to write a good speech

If public speaking gives you the jitters, you’re not alone. Roughly 80% of the population feels nervous before giving a speech, and another 10% percent experiences intense anxiety and sometimes even panic. 

The fear of failure can cause procrastination and can cause you to put off your speechwriting process until the last minute. Finding the right words takes time and preparation, and if you’re already feeling nervous, starting from a blank page might seem even harder.

But putting in the effort despite your stress is worth it. Presenting a speech you worked hard on fosters authenticity and connects you to the subject matter, which can help your audience understand your points better. Human connection is all about honesty and vulnerability, and if you want to connect to the people you’re speaking to, they should see that in you.

1. Identify your objectives and target audience

Before diving into the writing process, find healthy coping strategies to help you stop worrying . Then you can define your speech’s purpose, think about your target audience, and start identifying your objectives. Here are some questions to ask yourself and ground your thinking : 

• What purpose do I want my speech to achieve? 
• What would it mean to me if I achieved the speech’s purpose?
• What audience am I writing for? 
• What do I know about my audience? 
• What values do I want to transmit? 
• If the audience remembers one take-home message, what should it be? 
• What do I want my audience to feel, think, or do after I finish speaking? 
• What parts of my message could be confusing and require further explanation?

2. Know your audience

Understanding your audience is crucial for tailoring your speech effectively. Consider the demographics of your audience, their interests, and their expectations. For instance, if you're addressing a group of healthcare professionals, you'll want to use medical terminology and data that resonate with them. Conversely, if your audience is a group of young students, you'd adjust your content to be more relatable to their experiences and interests. 

3. Choose a clear message

Your message should be the central idea that you want your audience to take away from your speech. Let's say you're giving a speech on climate change. Your clear message might be something like, "Individual actions can make a significant impact on mitigating climate change." Throughout your speech, all your points and examples should support this central message, reinforcing it for your audience.

4. Structure your speech

Organizing your speech properly keeps your audience engaged and helps them follow your ideas. The introduction should grab your audience's attention and introduce the topic. For example, if you're discussing space exploration, you could start with a fascinating fact about a recent space mission. In the body, you'd present your main points logically, such as the history of space exploration, its scientific significance, and future prospects. Finally, in the conclusion, you'd summarize your key points and reiterate the importance of space exploration in advancing human knowledge.

5. Use engaging content for clarity

Engaging content includes stories, anecdotes, statistics, and examples that illustrate your main points. For instance, if you're giving a speech about the importance of reading, you might share a personal story about how a particular book changed your perspective. You could also include statistics on the benefits of reading, such as improved cognitive abilities and empathy.

6. Maintain clarity and simplicity

It's essential to communicate your ideas clearly. Avoid using overly technical jargon or complex language that might confuse your audience. For example, if you're discussing a medical breakthrough with a non-medical audience, explain complex terms in simple, understandable language.

7. Practice and rehearse

Practice is key to delivering a great speech. Rehearse multiple times to refine your delivery, timing, and tone. Consider using a mirror or recording yourself to observe your body language and gestures. For instance, if you're giving a motivational speech, practice your gestures and expressions to convey enthusiasm and confidence.

8. Consider nonverbal communication

Your body language, tone of voice, and gestures should align with your message . If you're delivering a speech on leadership, maintain strong eye contact to convey authority and connection with your audience. A steady pace and varied tone can also enhance your speech's impact.

9. Engage your audience

Engaging your audience keeps them interested and attentive. Encourage interaction by asking thought-provoking questions or sharing relatable anecdotes. If you're giving a speech on teamwork, ask the audience to recall a time when teamwork led to a successful outcome, fostering engagement and connection.

10. Prepare for Q&A

Anticipate potential questions or objections your audience might have and prepare concise, well-informed responses. If you're delivering a speech on a controversial topic, such as healthcare reform, be ready to address common concerns, like the impact on healthcare costs or access to services, during the Q&A session.

By following these steps and incorporating examples that align with your specific speech topic and purpose, you can craft and deliver a compelling and impactful speech that resonates with your audience.

Tools for writing a great speech

There are several helpful tools available for speechwriting, both technological and communication-related. Here are a few examples:

• Word processing software: Tools like Microsoft Word, Google Docs, or other word processors provide a user-friendly environment for writing and editing speeches. They offer features like spell-checking, grammar correction, formatting options, and easy revision tracking.
• Presentation software: Software such as Microsoft PowerPoint or Google Slides is useful when creating visual aids to accompany your speech. These tools allow you to create engaging slideshows with text, images, charts, and videos to enhance your presentation.
• Speechwriting Templates: Online platforms or software offer pre-designed templates specifically for speechwriting. These templates provide guidance on structuring your speech and may include prompts for different sections like introductions, main points, and conclusions.
• Rhetorical devices and figures of speech: Rhetorical tools such as metaphors, similes, alliteration, and parallelism can add impact and persuasion to your speech. Resources like books, websites, or academic papers detailing various rhetorical devices can help you incorporate them effectively.
• Speechwriting apps: Mobile apps designed specifically for speechwriting can be helpful in organizing your thoughts, creating outlines, and composing a speech. These apps often provide features like voice recording, note-taking, and virtual prompts to keep you on track.
• Grammar and style checkers: Online tools or plugins like Grammarly or Hemingway Editor help improve the clarity and readability of your speech by checking for grammar, spelling, and style errors. They provide suggestions for sentence structure, word choice, and overall tone.
• Thesaurus and dictionary: Online or offline resources such as thesauruses and dictionaries help expand your vocabulary and find alternative words or phrases to express your ideas more effectively. They can also clarify meanings or provide context for unfamiliar terms.
• Online speechwriting communities: Joining online forums or communities focused on speechwriting can be beneficial for getting feedback, sharing ideas, and learning from experienced speechwriters. It's an opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals and improve your public speaking skills through collaboration.

Remember, while these tools can assist in the speechwriting process, it's essential to use them thoughtfully and adapt them to your specific needs and style. The most important aspect of speechwriting remains the creativity, authenticity, and connection with your audience that you bring to your speech.

5 tips for writing a speech

Behind every great speech is an excellent idea and a speaker who refined it. But a successful speech is about more than the initial words on the page, and there are a few more things you can do to help it land.

Here are five more tips for writing and practicing your speech:

1. Structure first, write second

If you start the writing process before organizing your thoughts, you may have to re-order, cut, and scrap the sentences you worked hard on. Save yourself some time by using a speech structure, like the one above, to order your talking points first. This can also help you identify unclear points or moments that disrupt your flow.

2. Do your homework

Data strengthens your argument with a scientific edge. Research your topic with an eye for attention-grabbing statistics, or look for findings you can use to support each point. If you’re pitching a product or service, pull information from company metrics that demonstrate past or potential successes. 

Audience members will likely have questions, so learn all talking points inside and out. If you tell investors that your product will provide 12% returns, for example, come prepared with projections that support that statement.

3. Sound like yourself

Memorable speakers have distinct voices. Think of Martin Luther King Jr’s urgent, inspiring timbre or Oprah’s empathetic, personal tone . Establish your voice — one that aligns with your personality and values — and stick with it. If you’re a motivational speaker, keep your tone upbeat to inspire your audience . If you’re the CEO of a startup, try sounding assured but approachable. 

4. Practice

As you practice a speech, you become more confident , gain a better handle on the material, and learn the outline so well that unexpected questions are less likely to trip you up. Practice in front of a colleague or friend for honest feedback about what you could change, and speak in front of the mirror to tweak your nonverbal communication and body language .

5. Remember to breathe

When you’re stressed, you breathe more rapidly . It can be challenging to talk normally when you can’t regulate your breath. Before your presentation, try some mindful breathing exercises so that when the day comes, you already have strategies that will calm you down and remain present . This can also help you control your voice and avoid speaking too quickly.

How to ghostwrite a great speech for someone else

Ghostwriting a speech requires a unique set of skills, as you're essentially writing a piece that will be delivered by someone else. Here are some tips on how to effectively ghostwrite a speech:

• Understand the speaker's voice and style : Begin by thoroughly understanding the speaker's personality, speaking style, and preferences. This includes their tone, humor, and any personal anecdotes they may want to include.
• Interview the speaker : Have a detailed conversation with the speaker to gather information about their speech's purpose, target audience, key messages, and any specific points they want to emphasize. Ask for personal stories or examples they may want to include.
• Research thoroughly : Research the topic to ensure you have a strong foundation of knowledge. This helps you craft a well-informed and credible speech.
• Create an outline : Develop a clear outline that includes the introduction, main points, supporting evidence, and a conclusion. Share this outline with the speaker for their input and approval.
• Write in the speaker's voice : While crafting the speech, maintain the speaker's voice and style. Use language and phrasing that feel natural to them. If they have a particular way of expressing ideas, incorporate that into the speech.
• Craft a captivating opening : Begin the speech with a compelling opening that grabs the audience's attention. This could be a relevant quote, an interesting fact, a personal anecdote, or a thought-provoking question.
• Organize content logically : Ensure the speech flows logically, with each point building on the previous one. Use transitions to guide the audience from one idea to the next smoothly.
• Incorporate engaging stories and examples : Include anecdotes, stories, and real-life examples that illustrate key points and make the speech relatable and memorable.
• Edit and revise : Edit the speech carefully for clarity, grammar, and coherence. Ensure the speech is the right length and aligns with the speaker's time constraints.
• Seek feedback : Share drafts of the speech with the speaker for their feedback and revisions. They may have specific changes or additions they'd like to make.
• Practice delivery : If possible, work with the speaker on their delivery. Practice the speech together, allowing the speaker to become familiar with the content and your writing style.
• Maintain confidentiality : As a ghostwriter, it's essential to respect the confidentiality and anonymity of the work. Do not disclose that you wrote the speech unless you have the speaker's permission to do so.
• Be flexible : Be open to making changes and revisions as per the speaker's preferences. Your goal is to make them look good and effectively convey their message.
• Meet deadlines : Stick to agreed-upon deadlines for drafts and revisions. Punctuality and reliability are essential in ghostwriting.
• Provide support : Support the speaker during their preparation and rehearsal process. This can include helping with cue cards, speech notes, or any other materials they need.

Remember that successful ghostwriting is about capturing the essence of the speaker while delivering a well-structured and engaging speech. Collaboration, communication, and adaptability are key to achieving this.

Give your best speech yet

Learn how to make a speech that’ll hold an audience’s attention by structuring your thoughts and practicing frequently. Put the effort into writing and preparing your content, and aim to improve your breathing, eye contact , and body language as you practice. The more you work on your speech, the more confident you’ll become.

The energy you invest in writing an effective speech will help your audience remember and connect to every concept. Remember: some life-changing philosophies have come from good speeches, so give your words a chance to resonate with others. You might even change their thinking.

Boost your speech skills

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Elizabeth Perry, ACC

Elizabeth Perry is a Coach Community Manager at BetterUp. She uses strategic engagement strategies to cultivate a learning community across a global network of Coaches through in-person and virtual experiences, technology-enabled platforms, and strategic coaching industry partnerships. With over 3 years of coaching experience and a certification in transformative leadership and life coaching from Sofia University, Elizabeth leverages transpersonal psychology expertise to help coaches and clients gain awareness of their behavioral and thought patterns, discover their purpose and passions, and elevate their potential. She is a lifelong student of psychology, personal growth, and human potential as well as an ICF-certified ACC transpersonal life and leadership Coach.

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41 Free Online Speech Therapy Activities

There are many online speech therapy activities that you can do with your student or child to help them develop their language skills.

These online games and exercises are perfect for the online slps doing teletherapy and will not only be fun for both of you, but they will also provide great benefits for your child’s speech pathology goals and help improve their speech delay!

Fun Games for Online Speech Therapy Activities

In this article, we’ll highlight 41 online resources – including PBS Kids interactive games, Boom Cards, and Pink Cat Games. We hope that these online tools will encourage children to learn about social skills, vocabulary words, communication skills, and more.

The following section is a list of educational games that are great for any speech language pathologist to use during their therapy services.

Collection of Interactive Online Games

Enjoy this list below of online speech therapy games to work on your student’s or child’s speech goals and make your speech therapy session even more fun this school year.

Online Speech Therapy Activities

1. pbs kids.

One of our favorite online resources for speech therapy is the PBS Kids website. This online destination has a variety of fun, interactive games that help children work on their language skills.

Some SLP favorites include: “ Curiou s George Pop the Bubble “, “ Meatball Launcher “, and “ Daniel Tiger Bath Time Helper “.

Do you have students who love to build things? Be sure to check out this list of games: “ Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood: Sandcastle “, “ Hero Elementary Treehouse Trouble “, “ Hamster Run “, “ Ready Jet Go, Builder “, “ Animal Home Builder “.

All of these games are perfect for children who are in the early intervention stage or those who have autism spectrum disorder. They are also great for helping to build vocabulary skills , story telling , feelings and life skills, such as empathy, respect for others, labeling feelings, as well as others!

2. Boom Learning

Another online resource that we love are Boom Cards.

This online program makes it easy to access educational games that can help your child work on auditory processing skills, receptive and expressive language development, articulation practice, and more!

This online resource is perfect for practicing speech sounds with articulation games, vocabulary words, social skills, and following directions – all of which are important for speech development.

If you’re on the hunt for barrier games be sure to check out Boom Learning then!

SLP favorite free downloads can be found in my list of 917+ free boom cards for speech therapy !

3. pink cat games.

If you’re looking for online resources that are specifically designed for younger children, we highly recommend checking out Pink Cat Games.

This online website has a variety of great games and activities that focus on different language skills, including vocabulary development, following directions and more.

Some of our favorites include: “ Build a Monster “, “ Smarty Pants Animal Race “, and “ Quiz Wheel Game “.

All of these online resources are perfect for children in early intervention or with autism spectrum disorder, as they help to build vocabulary skills, language comprehension abilities, following directions, social communication, and more!

4. Fun Brain

This website has many online activities and games that work on vocabulary, reading comprehension, memory skill development, etc.

These online games are perfect for children who have already developed some language skills, but still need to improve their vocabulary or reading comprehension abilities.

Some of our favorite things on this site are “ Reading “, “ Games “, Grammar Gorillas , Plural Girls to work on plurals , and Simon Sees .

5. Educational Games

If you’re looking for online resources that focus on educational games, we highly recommend checking out Educational Games.

This website has a variety of online activities and games that work on different academic skills, including math, science, grammar, etc.

This online website is perfect for younger children who are just starting to learn their letters and sounds. It has a variety of online games and activities that focus on teaching the alphabet, phonics skills, vocabulary words, etc.

Some of our favorite online speech therapy activities on ABCya! include: “ Make a Cupcake “, “ Make an Ice Cream “, “ Make a Cookie “, “ Make a Pizza “, “ Make a Gingerbread House “, “ Make a Robot “, and “ Let me Grow “.

These online resources are perfect for children who are just starting to learn their letters and sounds, as well as those who need extra practice with their phonics skills. They also work great with younger children in the early intervention stage!

More reinforcement games, such as Happy Clicks, the Game of Battleship, and an Interactive Mr. Potato Head can be found in my list of 21 Best Reinforcement Games for Speech Therapy !

7. Sesame Street Games

This website offers a variety of educational games for children ages two to five. The games are designed to help with skills such as letter recognition, counting, vocabulary, and more.

Here is a list of fan favorites: “ Cooking with Cookie “, “ Ready Set Grow “, “ Brush Those Teeth “, “ Dress up Time! “, and “ Cookie Monster’s Foodie Truck “.

There are several possibilities for targeting requesting, commenting and extending utterances.

8. Match the Memory Game

If you’re on the hunt for memory games then this online memory game is a great way to help your child work on their short-term memory abilities.

9. Baamboozle

This online website is fantastic since it offers pre-made games and activities created by other SLPs that you may utilize or develop your own free games.

Simply search the games using the search bar.

Some of our favorite online speech therapy activities on Baamboozle include games with target words: “ Speech Articulation S Sounds ” by lindseycav, “ Articulation of Two or More Syllables Words in GIF ” by Susan Tourdot, and the “ /ch/ Initial Articulation ” by MG.

These online resources are perfect for children who need extra practice with their vocabulary skills or articulation. They also work great with younger children in the early intervention stage!

10. Meddybemps

If you’re looking for online speech therapy activities, look no further than Meddybemps.

They have a great selection of interactive games and activities that are perfect for helping kids with language skills.

Their games are ideal for children with autism spectrum disorder, communication delays, or other speech-language needs.

11. Jeopardy Labs

Jeopardy Labs is a great online resource for speech therapy activities. The website includes interactive games and vocabulary games that are perfect for teletherapy sessions and helping children develop their language skills.

The interactive games on Jeopardy Labs are a great way to help younger children learn new concepts in a fun and engaging way. The games are also a great way to help improve communication skills.

12. Language Play Room

The language playroom is an online learning center for children to help them learn about language.

They have activities that cover a wide variety of concepts, including reading comprehension and phonemic awareness.

13. iSL Collective Video Lessons

If I had a top pick this website would be it! I personally love using videos to make therapy more fun and interactive.

The iSL Collective is a great online resource for speech-language pathologists.

The website includes a variety of video lessons that cover topics such as grammar skills, vocabulary development, body language, and more!

If you also love using more videos in your therapy to make learning more fun then be sure to check out my list of 31 Best Wordless Videos to Teach Problem Solving .

14. Owlie Boo

This website is really easy for parents and therapists to use.

It offers several excellent games for toddlers and reinforcement games, which are also great for practice.

Poki is a great website with activities that are fun and interactive, and the games can be used as reinforcement while your students work on their specific skills or areas of development.

Poki is a great resource for parents, family members, and therapists looking for fun and digital games to use during therapy sessions.

Some favorite board games include: “ Tic Tac Toe “, “ Connect Four “, and “ Snakes and Ladders “.

16. Toy Theater

It has several free interactive games that you can use with your students. They can play along with you if you share your screen and let the student control (Zoom).

If you’re looking for multiplayer be sure to check out the Goose game and Snakes and Ladders game at Toy Theater.

Some of our favorite online speech therapy activities on Toy Theater include “ Stack ” and the “ Classroom Timer “.

17. Room Recess

Room Recess is an educational website that offers educational games and activities for children.

The site is free, easy to use, and provides educational online resources for kids of all ages.

Room Recess has a large library of educational games for early learners from preschool through middle school including a math tab, reading tab, word tab, lab tab, extras tab, and themes tab.

18. Mystery Animal

The Google Mystery Animal is a 20-question quiz. It’s free and very entertaining for all ages and fun for a variety of goals.

Kahoot is a perfect website for high school students or older students and a great way to review material with a class or as a family.

It is an interactive quiz game that can be used for educational purposes. Kahoot offers many different types of games, including vocabulary and grammar exercises.

SEE ALSO: 21 Best Reinforcement Games for Speech Therapy / Teletherapy

20. quizlet.

Quizlet is a website that has a variety of resources for all grade levels, including interactive flashcards and vocabulary games.

Quizlet also offers a great way to study for exams with its “learn” mode. This mode helps you memorize information from a provided list of terms, definitions, and examples.

21. Cookie  

This site has 13+ great language activities that help students build vocabulary in an engaging way.

22. Global Allied Health

This site is divided by goal area.

These online resources are perfect for teachers who have older children in the school-aged stage!

23. Highlights Kids

This website is jam-packed with secret pictures, making it ideal for vocabulary practice or as a fun reinforcement game.

The website is also a great resource for parents and family members who want to help their children with language development or those that are working on improving communication skills.

The types of activities available on Highlights Kids will keep children entertained while they learn at the same time!

There is something for everyone on this website. It is a great resource for parents and speech-language pathologists alike! Check it out today!

The website Quia.com is an educational website that allows you to create online lessons and quizzes for free. This can be a great resource for finding educational games and activities to supplement speech therapy sessions.

Quia offers a variety of different types of educational games and activities, including vocabulary games and interactive activities for younger children.

The website is easy to use and can be accessed from any computer or mobile device.

Here is a fun game for working on multiple meaning words !

25. Wheel of Names

The Wheel of Names is a fun game that is perfect for using it as a spinner.

For example, you can use it to choose who goes next. Or put vocabulary words in the boxes and then spin and have your student define their vocabulary words.

Another idea is to work on synonyms or antonyms. Place different words, such as big or tall in the spinner and then hit spin. The child then says the best synonym or antonym for that word. 

SEE ALSO: 279+ Free Speech Therapy Digital Materials

26. kids national geographics.

The Kids National Geographic website is a great educational resource for children of all ages.

It features interactive games and activities, educational articles, and videos from the popular magazine.

Children can learn about everything from dinosaurs to space exploration on this website. There are also puzzles and quizzes to help reinforce what kids have learned.

This is a great way to keep children engaged and entertained while learning educational topics.

27. Bou n cy Balls

This is a fun way to manage classroom noise or visualize music.

You can choose from a variety of themes that will help your students visualize the noise in the room!

28. Sheppard Software

This website has a great variety of educational games and activities for younger children.

Their website has hundreds of free, online, learning games for kids.

But anyone interested in online learning can use this site with access to activities in many subjects – (geography, math, animals, science, language arts, creative activities, health).

29. Mr. Nussbaum  

Here is an educational website that features many free resources to help kids.

It offers dozens of interactive games designed to reinforce essential concepts taught in elementary years, and themes that make learning enjoyable.

30. Arcademics

Arcademics is a website that offers educational games for students in kindergarten through twelfth grade.

There are over 50 games to choose from, and students can practice math, reading, science, social studies, and more.

The educational games are separated by grade level and subject, so students can easily find what they need.

31. Junior Brain Pop

One educational website that is great for speech therapy activities and games is Junior Brain Pop.

This website includes a variety of interactive games and videos that target a range of skills, including language. The games are all engaging and provide a fun way to work on important skills.

32. Splash Learn

Splash Learn has a variety of educational games to choose from that provide practice in vocabulary, phonology and grammar skills.

It also offers educational lesson plans and ideas, tips on how to use the site, FAQs and more!

33. Turtle Diary  

This site offers a large, free collection of educational games and activities to help children learn. These tools can be helpful for speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, parents and teachers who are looking for ways to support language skills in young children.

The site includes many different types of educational games that will engage your child: vocabulary building games where kids match terms to definitions, interactive short stories that teach grammar and syntax, educational quizzes, math challenges and more.

One of the best features of Turtle Diary is that many of the games are designed for specific age groups. You can easily find activities tailored for preschool students, elementary students or older students. This is a great way to target your child’s specific educational needs.

SEE ALSO: 917+ Best free Boom Cards for Speech Therapy

34. learning games for kids.

This site includes educational games for kids to make learning fun with math facts, language arts, and more.

Want educational games that make learning fun for your students? You’ve come to the right place!

35. Time for Kids

The website ‘Time for Kids’ is a great educational resource that provides articles and videos geared towards children of all ages.

Time for Kids is a great resource for educational activities, making it the perfect place to find digital resources for speech therapy.

It’s also a great way to keep younger children entertained and engaged while practicing their language skills.

Scroll down to the latest articles and stories for the free resources.

36. The Kidz Page   

Here is another educational website that provides free educational games and activities for children.

There are hundreds of free kids games, puzzles, activities, fun coloring pages, clip art & more.

You are sure to find something on this site that will help reinforce what you’re teaching your students in the classroom.

37. Disney Now Games

Disney Now has a great selection of educational games for children.

The games are designed to help kids learn math, reading, and science skills.

There are also games devoted to social skills development.

38. Word Wall

A great way to help young children learn new words and their definitions is by using a word wall.

A word wall is a collection of words, usually posted in a designated area, with each word printed or written on a separate piece of paper or card. The definition of the word can also be included.

This is a great visual aid for children and can help them learn new words in a fun way. It is also a great resource for parents and family members who want to help their child with their language development.

39. Birthday Song

Does your child or student have a birthday coming up?

Then be sure to check out this website where you type your child or student’s name and you can sing the child happy birthday with their name!

40. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association

Their website also has a few articles of ideas for using online speech therapy ideas that might be worth checking out.

41. Book Trust

If you want your child or student to listen to a free book then be sure to check out this website where your child or student can watch and listen to the interactive children’s books and then play a game, such as the Jigsaw Puzzles , Coloring Pages , or Faces and Feelings .

Conclusion : Online Speech Therapy Activities

Here is a list of 41 online speech-language therapy activities and games to help your child work on their language skills!

These resources are a great way to use online technology and are perfect for children with autism spectrum disorder, communication delays, or other speech-language needs.

They are a great way to improve vocabulary skills, phonemic awareness, reading comprehension, and more. Try out these online resources today!

Want Even More?

• 21 Best Reinforcement Games for Speech Therapy
• 261+ Free Ideas for Digital Therapy
• 917+ Best Free Boom Cards for Speech Therapy
• 11 Free Articulation Games for Speech Therapy
• Learn How to Turn any Static PDF into an Interactive PDF.

Want the Best of the Bests?

Be sure to check out our most popular posts below!

• 21 Best Reinforcement Games for Speech Therapy / Teletherapy
• Best IEP Resources
• 71+ Free Social Problem-Solving Scenarios
• 430+ Free Multisyllabic Words List Activity Bundle
• 432+ Free Measurable IEP Goals and Objectives Bank
• 279+ Free Speech Therapy Digital Materials
• 179+ Free Speech Therapy Wh-Questions Printable

Saturday 18th of June 2022

Thank you for this freebies! God bless your good heart!

Melissa Berg

Hi Ela! Aw, thank you so much. I'm happy to know you like this resource! Wishing you all the best, Melissa

How Do You Make Learning Fun? 5 Easy Answers

October 25, 2021

If you’re a parent, guardian, or teacher, you’ve probably wondered to yourself, “ How do you make learning fun ?” In this article, we’ll take a look at why it’s important to keep learning fun, and actionable ways to make learning fun so your youngsters stay hooked on discovering new skills and meeting their goals .

Why Make Learning Fun?

If teachers and students can stay conscious of improving the learning process on a regular basis, it’s much easier to work together to keep lessons engaging and motivating. Here are some of the key reasons making learning fun can change outcomes for youngsters: 

• Keeps students engaged with the learning material
• Helps children develop a positive relationship to learning
• Turns challenges into opportunities for growth
• Takes the fear of failure out of discovery
• Gives youngsters the chance to tap into their interests and passions

5 Ways to Make Learning Fun

Here are five strategies that can assist teachers and students with this process to make learning fun. If you’ve been wondering, “ How do you make learning fun ?” These 5 options are a great place to start.

1. Offer choices

Kids go through much of their daily routine without a lot of choices, both at home and at school. To offer kids the control they desire, it’s important to incorporate choices into lessons as often as possible. Keep in mind that offering choices is not a method for kids to get out of doing work, though! For example, giving a choice of doing homework or playing a game is not a productive choice. However, letting students pick the order of homework assignments they will work on may help.

2. Make it a game

It may seem silly, but turning any lesson into a game will almost always make learning fun! And turning review activities or rote memorization drills into games doesn’t require a lot of prep time or expense. There is nothing wrong with purchasing pre-made games once in a while, but many of the most popular, effective games are the simplest. For example, turn learning musical symbols and terminology (e.g. quarter notes, half notes, and whole notes) into a musical memory game , or play your favorite games in another language instead of simply drilling conjugation rules.

3. Tailor your lessons to your students.  

It’s easy to expect all children to have the same attention span and to structure your lessons accordingly. However, this simply isn’t the case. While it may not seem unreasonable to expect a six-year-old to sit through a half-hour lesson, this is a very long period of structured time for most six year olds. Consider how you can break down lessons to keep kids engaged and make learning fun. Even a thirty-second break every six minutes to do a round of jumping jacks or get a drink of water can make a big difference.

4. Make learning practical

Most people agree that it’s difficult to stay engaged in a lesson when you don’t understand the purpose of the knowledge. Instead of simply telling students that there is a practical purpose for the lesson at hand, give them some concrete examples . As a student, don’t ever be afraid to question a teacher about the practicality of a particular lesson. A good teacher will make the effort to give you a concrete answer, even if it takes a couple days to do some research.

5. Pay attention to students’ interests

Take the time to ask your students about their hobbies and interests. While some interests are easier to incorporate than others, it’s important to take note of them and maximize their potential. If you can’t find a game or assignment to fit a passion, think about other ways to use it in a lesson, such as train stickers as rewards. As students, don’t be afraid to bring in books you like or suggest subjects that you would like to learn. Teachers may say no, but you never know until you ask.

Now, What Are Your Strategies for Making Learning Fun?

Keeping students engaged and motivated can be a challenge, even for the best teachers. It’s easy to teach the same lessons year after year simply because they have worked in the past, without giving much thought to students’ current interest level. But even the strongest curriculum still needs some variety once in a while: every teacher or parent needs to put some focus on ways to make learning fun . Likewise it’s important for students to be aware of learning strategies that are both effective and fun for them. 

What are your strategies for keeping young learners engaged? No more asking “ How do you make learning fun ”, now it’s time to go out there, try the techniques above, and use your own creativity to spark young students’ love of learning.

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ARTICULATION TEACHER

Play fun Speech Games with your child, or let them explore on their own. Each sound has games to work on initial, medial, and final speech sound pronunciation. Games include:

Name It: a quick and easy flash card game where your child repeats the word on the page, and gets in lots of repetition

Splat: a listening game where your child identifies what image matches the word they heard

Sound Check: help your child figure out which words include a specific sound in this auditory discrimination game

Space Match: say each word as you try to find memory game matches

Silly Voices:  hear words said in different silly voices (like a robot or friendly monster) and repeat them

Plus, get printable word lists with games you can play around the house!

Become the Articulation Teacher in your own home. Created by a speech therapist, this app gives you at-home speech activities ideas that increase parent-child communication, as well as pronunciation games to play with your child.

Articulation Teacher is different from other articulation apps because we integrate target words into play and real life context, led by the parent, rather than solely focusing on drill practice done by the child.

Articulation Teacher is brought to you by the creators of  SpeakEasy: Home Speech Therapy  and is best for parents of children age 1-8. If you are looking for early language development tips for age 0-5, rather than just working on articulation and sounds, we recommend trying SpeakEasy .

Speech Games Make Learning Fun

Teach Speech At Home!

Try pronunciation and articulation activities with your child at home. Play speech games to work on sounds like R, L, S, and more. Created by a speech therapist to equip you with what you need to help your little one (age 1 to 8) pronounce sounds and words correctly. Brought to you by the creators of  SpeakEasy: Home Speech Therapy

L et's  L ook  L unchbox

Five Little Duc k s

S uper  S nake

F inders Keepers

Home Activities Target Specific Sounds

Sound Check

Space Match

How Does It Work?

Choose a sound to work on with your child

Try speech activities in your own home

Learn how to help your child make the sound

Play in-app games for additional practice

Try Articulation Teacher for Free!

Download and try one sound for free! Additional sounds may require purchase.

Make Language Learning Fun (25 Helpful Ways Explained)

Learning a new language does not have to be a difficult chore. After all, there are plenty more ways of learning a language than just writing and rewriting vocabulary words. With todays advancements in technology, there are so many more options than ever before.

Studies show that if a language learning activity is made in a fun way, its lessons will be comprehended and remembered more quickly. This is critical for acquisition of a second or other language. From tasks like journaling to traveling, there are many ways to make learning a language fun.

This article highlights 25 ways to make language learning fun. From watching foreign movies to drawing language maps to learning curse words (though as a language teacher in public schools, I haven’t used that one!), you are bound to find at least a couple of language-learning tips on this list that sound fun and exciting to you. In fact, you can even make a challenge out of doing each and every one of the fun tasks!

• 1 What is the Most Fun Language to Learn?
• 2 Watch Movies in Different Languages
• 3 Trade Language Skills with Someone on the Internet
• 4 Train Your Dog to Be Bilingual
• 5 Become Pen-Pals with Someone in Another Country
• 6 Listen to Audiobooks in Different Languages
• 7 Make a Thought Map of the Words and Phrases That You Will Use Most
• 8 Follow Foreign Social Media Influencers
• 9 Learn Some Fun Catch Phrases
• 10 Learn the Best Adjectives
• 11 Learn about the Culture of Your Language
• 12 Make Videos/Recordings of Yourself Talking
• 13 Travel Abroad
• 14 Keep a Journal
• 15 Join the Online Dating World – And Set Your Preferences to Another Country
• 16 Shop for Groceries in Ethnic Stores
• 17 Translate Your Favorite Songs into the Language You Are Learning
• 18 Research Different Metaphors and Idioms
• 19 Play Scrabble
• 20 Download a Foreign App
• 21 Avoid Speaking Your Native Language for a Whole Day
• 22 Label Items Around Your House
• 23 Practice Your Accent
• 24 Sketch and Label Different Things Around Your House
• 25 Enjoy Some Foreign Music
• 26 Identify and Write Down Some of Your Favorite Words
• 27 Make This List Into a 25 Day Learning Challenge

What is the Most Fun Language to Learn?

Determining the “funness” of learning a language depends on several different factors, such as your first language, surroundings and interests. 

A language can be fun to learn if it relates to a language that you already know. For example, if you already know Spanish, then Portuguese and Italian will come naturally to you. Already having a handle on the structure and verb types of a language can make learning a related language a breeze. This fast progress will excite and encourage you.

Learning a language spoken by other people within your community can also make language learning fun. For example, if you live in Miami, Florida, it would be more fun to learn Spanish than Japanese because there is such a large Hispanic/Latino population there. You would have more people to conversate with, and feel more a part of your community.

A language can also be fun to learn if you are interested in the culture associated with it. For example, if you are really into Anime, then it might be fun for you to learn Japanese. If you love Spanish/Latino music and dance culture, it would be fun to learn Spanish so that the songs and dances are more meaningful to you.

Even though it makes sense that the more fun an activity is, the more helpful it would be for learning, up until recently this was only something considered for children; this is why teachers try to make learning fun for kids.

Now, there is also research to back it up for adults! The Fourth International Conference on Adult Education (Romania 2014) reported that “fun and enjoyment could prove to be as beneficial and important as it is currently considered in children’s learning” based on a study by Dorothy Lucardie of Federation University , Australia.

Watch Movies in Different Languages

Watching movies in a language you want to learn is a tried and true way of improving your conversational skills. In fact, you can go about doing so in a few different ways.

• You can watch original foreign language movies, which were created in the homelands of your fledgling language, such as Parasite , winner of 4 Academy Awards, available at Amazon
• You can watch movies from your own country that have been adapted to different languages

It is fun and educational to watch ethnic movies that you are unfamiliar with. But, these kinds of movies can be a bit difficult to understand for beginners. Instead, it may be more productive and enjoyable to rewatch your favorite movies in the language you are learning.

Watching movies whose dialogue you are already familiar with provides an additional dimension to your language comprehension. You already have an idea of what the characters will say. Therefore you will be able to comprehend the words more quickly. 

The best part of watching movies in different languages is that you are learning without even trying! All you have to do is turn on a movie and relax, and learning will happen naturally.

Trade Language Skills with Someone on the Internet

It is easier than ever to find and connect with different communities of people in this day and age. There are tons of resources on the internet that help you to find fellow language learners to practice with. 

Practicing your conversational skills with a fellow beginner might seem counter-intuitive. But it is actually a great and efficient way for both of you to get a good understanding of the structure of the language. 

When learning a language from a native speaker, they may take certain details for granted. These details are oftentimes beneficial for you to know but come second nature (and are therefore nonexistent) to the native speaker. Practicing with a fellow beginner will help you to find and practice common topics of confusion.

Train Your Dog to Be Bilingual

Did you know that pets can be bilingual too? Learn basic dog commands in your new language, and train your dog to understand them too. This is a fun way of keeping your learning language alive in your house. You might even find that you talk to your dog in both languages.

Teaching your dog a second language is a fun way to practice the language without fear of judgment. After all, the more you practice, the better you will get. Why not practice on your dog, fish, or teddy bear? As long as you are talking, you are making progress.

Become Pen-Pals with Someone in Another Country

Writing letters in your second language is a fun way to practice meaningful dialogue. Not only are you and your partner bettering your language skills, but you are also establishing a meaningful relationship with someone who you would probably otherwise never talk to. That, in itself, is a fun and interesting hobby.

Pen-pals can be found in several different ways. Like most things, your most bountiful source for this search will be the internet. Facebook pages and subreddits are a good place to start, but there are also numerous websites built for this very purpose. A few examples are:

• Conversation Exchange

Pen-paling with someone in another country allows you to have a meaningful dialogue with someone without dealing with the anxieties of real-time conversations. Pen-paling allows you to slow down, choose your words carefully, and perfect your grammar and punctuation.

And as an ESL teacher for many years, I can tell you that learning to write in another language is a higher level of learning. Figuring out fun ways to practice the writing domain is especially useful for maintaining your motivation.

Listen to Audiobooks in Different Languages

Similar to movies, audiobooks also pose a great way for language learners to pick up on cadence, language structure, and correct grammar. This is especially true if it is a book you have read before or a simple children’s book. The more familiar the content, the faster you will draw connections between the language you are learning and your own.

Children’s audiobooks are available for free all over Youtube. You can start with these and then graduate to longer stories and novels as your language skills strengthen. Once that happens, you might want to subscribe to focused Amazon Audible, such as Audible Latino .

Listening to an audiobook while simultaneously following along with the text catalyzes language learning. This is because you are observing grammar and spelling while simultaneously hearing the pronunciation of the words. Enjoying stories in your non-native language is as entertaining as it is educational.

Make a Thought Map of the Words and Phrases That You Will Use Most

There is no way that you can learn every word in your language. With this in mind, try not to stress yourself with attempting to learn every word of your second language either. Instead, focus on the words and phrases that you use most during your daily routine. 

Write these words and phrases down or make a poster of them. Do your best to group them so that you can easily refer to this poster in the future. Use groupings like:

• Verbs with verbs
• Nouns with nouns

Making a visual thought map is a fun way to visualize the structure of the language and flex your writing/arts and crafts skills. The more creative you get with this thought map, the more it will help you practice and study the language in the weeks to come. As long as you have a working knowledge of the words you need, you will get by just fine.

Follow Foreign Social Media Influencers

Following foreign (or foreign language-speaking) influencers on social media is a great way to get a feel for the modern slang and trends of the language you are studying. 

Foreign influencers will often talk candidly about their experiences within that culture and will use modern, up-to-date vernacular to express themselves. Interacting with their content acts as language practice for you and is a fun way to become a part of that community. 

These influencers can be found on any social media platform–Twitter, TikTok, YouTube, etc., and are often easy to find and accessible. Another perk of following foreign influencers is meeting and talking to other fans in their comment sections. Who knows, you might just make a friend!

Learn Some Fun Catch Phrases

The best way to feel like you are really getting the hang of a language is to learn some trendy catchphrases and slang. Picking up on a couple of commonly used things is a crucial step in your journey to fluency. Some examples are common:

• Expressions

On top of being useful, they are also usually fun to say, repeat, or even teach to your friends.

Catchphrases and language fads are crucial concepts of every language. These are things that native speakers use daily to relate to their neighbors. To feel like a “local” of the language, take some time to learn these important words and phrases.

Learn the Best Adjectives

There is no better way to describe the world around you than by using colorful, descriptive adjectives. You can find beautiful descriptive words by searching through language chat forums or by Googling “best/most beautiful adjectives in (your language).” 

Another way to find fun words is to simply leaf through a dictionary. If you use a dictionary, you can highlight and bookmark your favorite words and then refer back to your dictionary later. 

Try looking up words to describe:

• Being in love
• Wonderful smells
• Wonderful tastes
• Different textures
• Different feelings, such as anxiousness, excitement, regret, or fear

Learn about the Culture of Your Language

The culture of a language is an invaluable part of understanding your new language. Culture involves things like:

• Social norms

These things are all fascinating to learn about and experience. In fact, it might be the very reason you started learning the language in the first place. I’ve addressed the fun parts of Spanish and French cultures; if you’d like to read more about those cultures, I suggest clicking the links.

Learning about culture can involve watching Youtube videos, reading books, watching documentaries, and reading blogs. But, the best way to learn about a culture is to experience it yourself.

If you do not have the means to travel abroad, you could instead visit ethnic neighborhoods in your city. Ethnic neighborhoods radiate the culture of their mother-countries. They present an excellent way for you to appreciate and experience a foreign culture without having to leave the country.

Make Videos/Recordings of Yourself Talking

Making videos or podcasts of yourself (talking in your non-native language) is a great way to practice your conversational skills without actually having to talk to another person. Because only you are watching, you have the freedom to make as many mistakes as you need to and do as many takes as you feel like.

After recording, you will be able to rewatch them and hear yourself speak, listening for errors and ways to improve your speech. You will also be able to show these videos to your teachers and mentors, who can identify areas in need of improvement. Creating videos like these will help you to fine-tune your flow, accent, and cadence.

If you are brave enough, you could even upload these videos onto social media. Many people would probably enjoy being a part of your language-learning journey. Some may offer to help you practice, offer feedback, or better yet, learn something from you.

Travel Abroad

Many people have a love for traveling. Perhaps one of the most exciting and wonderful ways of learning a language is to travel somewhere that this language is spoken. Visiting allows you to get a feel for various aspects of a country, including:

• Speech style

Of course, the longer you stay there, the more deeply involved you will become in its culture. 

While traveling abroad, you would be fully immersed within your budding language, and you would be forced to learn and adapt. You would have to learn on the fly and would most certainly come back with a better knowledge of the language than before you left. 

Traveling is one of the most exciting and fulfilling things people can do during their lives. If you plan to travel, you might as well make it a learning experience at the same time!

Keep a Journal

Keeping a journal where you only write in your fledgling language is a helpful and fun language learning practice. In such a journal, you could keep track of new phrases you have learned and language errors you have made and learned from.

This journal could also just act as a diary. Learning to express your most personal thoughts and feelings in a new language is essential to your understanding of the language.

Keeping a diary such as this will make you identify personally with the words you are writing. It will also act as a physical archive of your progress over time, which is interesting to look back on.

Join the Online Dating World – And Set Your Preferences to Another Country

If you are open to dating or open to forging new friendships, joining a foreign dating/hang out app is a fun way of practicing your language while connecting with others. 

Setting your dating app’s preferences to a foreign country allows you to connect with speakers of the language you are studying. Some people you connect with may be interested in having a long-distance relationship or friendship that mutually benefits one another’s language skills. 

You may encounter people on these dating/friendship apps who do not speak a word of your language. This would likely be a challenge if you are still a beginner, but it would be a great way to put your skills to the test.

Shop for Groceries in Ethnic Stores

Local stores in ethnic neighborhoods typically have tons of foreign products. Doing your weekly grocery shopping at an ethnic store helps you to visualize all of the nouns you have been learning. By regularly browsing through an ethnic store, you become attuned to foreign brands, concepts, and products.

Not only is it fun to browse through foreign food products, but it is also fun to try them too! You can put your language skills to the test in the kitchen by following a recipe in your non-native language. If your crab cake comes out as a stromboli, you will know that you need a bit more practice with your language.

Shopping in ethnic stores also encourages you to practice your conversational skills, as you will have to interact with:

• Shop owners
• Other customers

Many of the people above would probably be glad to have a brief conversation with you in their native language.

Translate Your Favorite Songs into the Language You Are Learning

Translation exercises are a common and effective way of honing your writing skills. Oftentimes students will be asked to translate a website article, a page from a book, or an encyclopedia page. But translation exercises do not have to be boring or grueling.

An effective and fun exercise is to translate your favorite songs from your native language to the language you are learning. This may indeed be a difficult task, especially if you want the translated version to rhyme as well. But, if you are up for the challenge, translating songs is a very beneficial and educational exercise. 

The best part of translating your favorite songs is that you get to impress your friends by singing them! You know Dancing Queen in French? Right on!

Research Different Metaphors and Idioms

Language metaphors are what help us to visualize and understand abstract concepts. Every language has idioms and metaphors, but they are all vastly different in meaning. Some languages have metaphors for concepts that do not even exist in others. 

After all, there are some phrases in the English language that do not translate to different languages. (E.g., “The Bees Knees”–What does that even mean in Spanish?)

As well, our Fun Jokes for Kids Coloring Book (available at Amazon) would be another great option for translation into your target language!

Idioms and metaphors are fun to learn, mainly because they consist of words with no relevant significance in the English language.

By learning the metaphors of another language, you are opening up another dimension of understanding. Metaphors are what can bind and unite people, and learning them is a crucial step to language and cultural fluency.

Play Scrabble

Playing Scrabble (linked to Amazon) is an effective tool for language learning. The game requires you to think on your feet, crafting words from the letters given to you.

• It enhances your comprehension time
• It helps you to become a better speller
• It helps you build vocabulary in a fun way

Scrabble can be played by oneself or with others. With others, playing Scrabble is a lot more competitive. If you have no one to play with at home, you can use an online version of scrabble, which connects you with different players on the internet.

If you would rather play by yourself, it is still a great way of practicing your spelling and recall and is also a fun and relaxing pastime.

Download a Foreign App

Downloading a foreign app can help connect you to different language communities. Whatsapp, for example, is an internationally-used app for connecting and chatting with others. There are thousands of different online communities you can join that are based on different interests, hobbies, talents, and niches.

These apps do not necessarily have to be social media-based. There are plenty of gaming, educational, and lifestyle apps that are made in different languages. Interacting with these apps can aid your language learning while simultaneously entertaining you with a game, cartoon, or course.

Avoid Speaking Your Native Language for a Whole Day

If you think you can do it, challenge yourself t o only speak in your second language for an entire day. If you have to work and could not possibly get through the day, wait until the weekend. If you do not have anyone to talk to, then call somebody or talk to your pet. The goal is to spend an entire day immersed in the language you are learning. 

Spending an entire day without using your native language is a fun way to realize just how many words you do not know. Before, you may never have thought to look up certain words that you took for granted in your native language. You may have never noticed that they were missing from your second language’s vocabulary. 

This exercise helps to discover which words you need to add to your new vocabulary, and it also helps you to practice and hone your conversational skills.

Label Items Around Your House

Labeling your belongings–such as furniture, appliances, food products, and even plants–will help you to grow your vocabulary and working knowledge of the items around your house. 

This is an especially fun exercise for items in the refrigerator. Take the time to research the names of everything in your cabinets and refrigerator.

Afterward, label each one. Just the process of doing this will help your vocabulary grow immensely. 

Then, after seeing the labels on your items for a few weeks, you will begin to automatically associate those items with their foreign names. This is an easy way to make your house a living dictionary that you are constantly studying, whether you realize it or not.

Practice Your Accent

For the purpose of learning, practice exaggerating your foreign accent (to read more about accents, I’ve written an article here .) when you speak in its corresponding language. Practicing different vowel sounds, cadences, and tones of voice will help your accent sound more natural and less forced as time goes on. 

If you need help learning an accent, look up some YouTube videos on how to master the accent of your language. You can also learn to speak your language in different regional dialects. The closer your accent sounds to the real thing, the closer you will be to becoming fluent.

Sketch and Label Different Things Around Your House

Say you want to learn to talk about flowers. A great exercise for learning the names of different parts of an item is to draw it out and label it. So, for a flower diagram, you will need to draw and label the petals, stem, leaves, stamen, and pistil. 

You can create diagrams like this for just about anything. Drawing out and labeling different aspects of a thing or idea will help you to visualize and remember each part.

These drawings are fun to make, as you can color and decorate them once you have finished labeling. They are effective in strengthening your vocabulary and also serve as a great study tool to reference in the future.

Enjoy Some Foreign Music

Listening to music in the language you are learning is a fun way of honing your language skills. It is also a great way for you to get a taste of the culture of this language.

Music around the world has so many unique sounds, rhythms, and overall vibes. Listening to and appreciating foreign music will give a new dimension and perspective to the language that you are learning. It will also help you to identify common things, such as:

• Themes of thought
• Slang words

Expanding your horizons and trying different kinds of music is interesting and fun. It broadens your tastes and allows you to understand the culture behind the language you have been studying. It is also very beneficial to your language development. Bonus points if you follow along to the lyrics as you are listening!

Identify and Write Down Some of Your Favorite Words

A true appreciation for your language comes when you have a special admiration for certain beautiful, interesting, or charming words.

Certain words just sound better in different languages. Maybe it rolls off the tongue, or maybe it is so hard to pronounce that you are left in awe every time you hear it. Whatever the reason, you are going to stumble across words that enamor you.

Write those words down. Learn how to spell them and how to pronounce them. Write down their definitions. Use them in sentences. This will act as a little encyclopedia of your favorite words that you can continue to add to and reference later on.

Make This List Into a 25 Day Learning Challenge

The challenge is to try and accomplish one thing from this list every day, for 25 days. By shaking up your routine, challenging yourself, and trying new learning practices, you will be able to find which learning techniques work best for you.

Watching foreign rom-coms might be extremely helpful to some, but not to others. The purpose of this list was to give you a plentitude of different ideas to choose from that would suit your language learning needs. You might as well try them all out and see what works best!

Additional Sources

https://community.today.com/parentingteam/post/9-unusual-but-clever-ways-to-learn-a-foreign-language

https://www.under30ceo.com/27-fun-ways-to-learn-a-language-quickly/

https://www.listenandlearnusa.com/blog/5-creative-ways-to-study-a-foreign-language/

https://www.tprsbooks.com/7-ways-to-make-language-learning-fun-for-kids/

https://www.summerlanguageacademy.com/blog/language-learning

Jackie Booe

Jackie Booe is a licensed teacher for elementary through high school in 3 states. She is a former adjunct professor at the undergraduate level and certified to teach elementary, secondary English, and English Language Learners. She was a mentor for many education interns, department leader at various levels and organizations, has taught and coordinated professional development for teachers and educators, and professionally tutored in a multitude of subjects.

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19 Parts of Speech Activities That Will Up Your Grammar Game

It’s time to think beyond Mad Libs.

Learning nouns, verbs, adjectives, and other parts of speech can seem boring to kids. It’s one of those basic skills that they need to master grammar, but it doesn’t always seem like much fun. For years, teachers have used Mad Libs to spice it up, but there are plenty of other engaging parts of speech activities out there to try. Here are some of our favorites.

1. Color a parts of speech picture.

Coloring pages are really popular parts of speech activities, with hundreds of them available online. Try this one for free at the site below.

Learn more: A World of Language Learners

2. Make parts of speech signs.

Cut out the large letters and break your class into group by parts of speech. Have each group fill the letters with definitions and examples of their assigned part. Hang up their creations as part of your classroom decor!

Learn more: Panicked Teacher/Instagram

3. Play parts of speech bingo.

This free printable bingo game can be used over and over again in your classroom. Use it with vocabulary or spelling words, or terms from your current lessons in other subjects too.

Learn more: 123Homeschool4Me

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4. Re-purpose a set of UNO cards.

Replace the numbers on a set of UNO cards with words instead. The game play is the same, but instead of numbers, players much put down a matching color or part of speech.

Learn more: Best Teacher Resources Blog

5. Build sentences with LEGO bricks.

Sort LEGO bricks by color, then write words on them using masking tape. Use one color for all the nouns, another for verbs, and so on. Then, build sentences with the bricks, identifying each part of speech as you go.

Learn more: There’s Just One Mommy

6. Throw darts and give examples.

Snag a Velcro dart board at the dollar store and label the different sections with parts of speech. Kids throw a ball or dart, and have to give an example of the part they land on in order to get the points. Fun!

Learn more: The Kinder Teacher/Instagram

7. Face off in tic-tac-toe.

Label the parts of a tic-tac-toe board with various parts of speech. To get the square, the player must give an example of that type.

Learn more: Teacher Thrive

8. Bag it up.

This is really several parts of speech activities in one. Label a series of bags with the parts of speech, and have your class define each one as you go. Have students write a series of words on index cards (try using vocab or spelling words), then sort them into the correct bags. Finally, pull a word from each bag one at a time and ask a student to use it in a sentence.

Learn more: Education.com

9. Dress up a sentence.

Take a very basic sentence and dress it up using various parts of speech. Teachers and kids both love this one, since it really emphasizes practical application. Get a free printable worksheet to use with this here.

Photo: Teach Starter/Instagram

10. Use parts of speech clip cards.

Parts of speech activities like this one are perfect for independent learning centers. Visit the link for a free printable set of cards.

Learn more: This Reading Mama

11. Hunt and sort eggs.

Fill plastic eggs with a variety of words and hide them around your room (or even the playground). Send kids out to find them, then open and sort them into the correct bucket. ( Find more fun plastic egg activities for the classroom here. )

Learn more: For the Love of First Grade

12. Go on a parts of speech scavenger hunt.

Grab a stack of old magazines and send students on a hunt to find the various parts of speech. They can cut them out and glue them to posters to hang around the room.

Learn more: Miss Gorton’s Class/Instagram

13. Add a grammar twist to Jenga.

Use colored Jenga blocks to help kids review the parts of speech. Get the full rules and free printables at the link below.

Learn more: Teaching With Jennifer Findlay

14. Learn the Parts of Speech Poem.

This anonymously-written poem has been around a long time. Have your students learn it, and they can use it as a guide during all sorts of parts of speech activities.

Learn more: Teaching With Miss Cooper/Instagram

15. Play Hangman with parts of speech.

Put a grammar spin on Hangman by giving students a clue about the part of speech being spelled out.

Learn more: Crafting Connections

16. Make your morning message more meaningful.

Take a few moments to analyze your morning message (or any other memo or handout kids receive or read) to look for various parts of speech.

Learn more: Learning Like Littles

17. Match up parts of speech dominoes.

Make free printable word dominoes, then match a part of speech with an example word on each turn.

Learn more: Homeschool Giveaways & Freebies

18. Sort magnetic poetry words and make sentences.

If you’ve got magnetic poetry words on hand, they’re ideal for parts of speech activities! Sort them by type, then make sentences that fit specific patterns (e.g. “article + adjective + noun + helping verb + verb” etc.)

19. Sort vocabulary words with a free printable.

Use our free customizable printable to sort vocabulary words from your current lessons. Grab it here.

Looking for more ways to mix up your grammar lessons? Try these 6 Ways to Make Teaching Grammar Fun.

If you’re tired of hearing kids grumble when it’s time to talk poetry, check out these entertaining Poetry Games and Activities .

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6 Ways to Make Teaching Parts of Speech Fun

Jul 9, 2021 1:33:30 PM / by Louise El Yaafouri

Need to Know

• English is a complex language. For many students, learning how to correctly utilize the eight parts of speech in their writing is no easy task. Yet, word understanding remains critical in order for students to express fluency across the four language domains (reading, writing, speaking, and listening). 
• We can grow students’ working knowledge of the English language by explicitly teaching parts of speech within a language-dynamic learning environment.
• Teaching and learning English language correctness doesn’t have to be confined to the task of rote memorization. It can- and should- be purposeful, engaging, and fun!

A Closer Look

Ugh. Parts of speech. 

There are only eight of them in the English language: nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and articles. So what makes teaching and learning them so... blah for so many of us? 

Navigating the parts of speech can feel overwhelming and can feel pointless. Does any of this even matter? “Learning how to communicate effectively in English is challenging in the best of circumstances,” explains Cynthia D’Amico, founder of The Colors of English .   

Add to that the dearth of engaging teaching materials dedicated to the topic, the myriad of relationships students have with the English language, and the fact that many of us have to learn or relearn these skills ourselves before teaching them. All this considered, D’Amico continues, “and the challenge sometimes becomes insurmountable.”

But teaching and learning the parts of speech doesn’t need to be complicated. In fact, it shouldn’t. What it should be is approachable, purposeful… and fun. 

Lindsay Kramer, writing for Grammarly, sums up the complexity of English sentence structure nicely : “Every word is a part of speech. The term “part of speech” refers to the role a word plays in a sentence,” she says. “And like any workplace or TV show with an ensemble cast, these roles were designed to work together”. 

With the right tools and supports, students can learn to “direct” these casts of characters. This is critical in the big picture of academic well-being. After all, mastering parts of speech enhances communication, information processing, and writing - ultimately promoting achievement across all grades and content areas. 

Here are six easy to implement strategies to engage students in authentic, interactive sentence building.

Code It   

Coding parts of speech by color can help make them more recognizable to learners. This can be done, for example, by using highlighters (or tech-based highlighters) to “find” sentence parts, using color coding to create more complex sentence diagrams, or coding interactive word walls for parts of speech.

Coding is at the heart of The Colors of English , a comprehensive curriculum featuring a cast of eight friendly birds. Each bird has a distinct shape, size, color, and personality- and each represents a unique part of speech. The system helps students understand how the pieces of the English language fit together. With practice, kids develop agency as “directors” of sentence building. 

Sort It  

Sorts help students to process new information and vocabulary in a guided, structured way. They can be completed solo or in groups and only require a deck of sorting cards with target vocabulary (in this case, words that can be categorized by sentence part). 

In a closed sort, the categories are named in advance. Students sort cards into designated piles (say, nouns and pronouns). Open sorts are more complex, as they are open ended. Learners explore the words in the deck and then devise reasonable categories (advanced decks might even include all eight parts of speech). Combining language learning with reasoning skills can enhance both engagement and retention.

I Am Going Camping With…

Choose a specific letter and have students think of as many nouns as possible that start with that letter. List the words on the board and have the following students repeat all the previous nouns before adding another (which helps develop site word recognition and builds vocabulary). For an added challenge, after creating a noun list, have students try and think of adjectives to describe those nouns that start with the same letter. Super-bonus-points have them try and add verbs that begin with the letter as well. This is tricky but fun and challenging; it builds vocabulary and helps students with alliteration. For example: for the letter "T"--step 1, turtles, turkey, tent, tie; step 2: tiny turtles, tall turkeys, torn tents, twisted ties, Step 3: Tiny turtles tremble, Talk turkeys trot. Torn tent tumble, Twisted ties twirl.

Adverb Charades:

Pick an action such as walking across the room or dancing, have students take turns picking adverb cards, and then do the chosen activity according to the card. See if the other students can guess the adverb (such as happily, angrily, quietly, sadly). This activity is a fun and engaging way to get students up and moving while building vocabulary and developing word sense.

Sometimes, deciding what something isn’t helps students make sense of what it is . Games like “Black Sheep” are great for this. The facilitator shares a family of words and invites students to reason which one doesn’t belong. A parts of speech puzzle might include: leap, sprint, quickly, gallop (with the adverb quickly as the odd one out). Puzzles should increase in rigor and complexity as students move toward mastery.

Relays are an active way to practice sentence building. Try this: Divide students into small teams, each assigned to a “home base”. Place two decks of cards in the center of the room. Deck 1 contains content/unit vocabulary. Deck 2 holds sentence building cards, including various prepositions, conjunctions, punctuation marks, and “double underline” cards (indicating the use of a capital letter).  

To play, one person from each team races to the cards, selects one from each pile, and returns to “base”. The process continues until each team has constructed a full, meaningful sentence, complete with appropriate sequencing and punctuation.

Students can learn to become masterful directors of the cast of characters that make up the English language. By engaging students in authentic, language-dynamic learning experiences, we can help make this learning concrete... and fun!

Topics: Literacy , Academic Language , English Language Learners

Written by Louise El Yaafouri

Louise El Yaafouri is a Recent Arriver & Cultural Competency Consultant at DiversifiED Consulting. She provides professional development and curriculum design in the areas of Emergent Multilingual education, trauma-informed practice, culturally responsive pedagogy, and equity/inclusion work. Louise has authored a wide range of ed-related books and articles, including the forthcoming Restoring Students’ Innate Power: Trauma-Responsive Strategies for Teaching Multilingual Newcomers (ASCD press). Louise lives between Denver, Colorado and Saida, Lebanon with her husband and sons Noor and Joud.

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A fun idea to teach speech marks

This activity is designed to teach punctuation speech marks and emotion or tone of voice..

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On a recent trip to IKEA to source resources for Positive Eye, I spotted this fun speech bubble which is sold as a notice board. I thought it would make a fun backdrop for teaching speechmarks and secondly it may make a fun resource for working on the emotion conveyed through voice tone. Also speech bubbles are a visual feature of many books, they are an abstract concept.  This bright green speech bubble brings it into the concrete understanding! You could also make a large speech bubble out of thick card.

Here are my ideas for its use.

Speechmark activities

I first stuck some strips of Velcro to the speech bubble to make a base for the activities. 

Suggestion 1:

On the speech bubbles write sentences, e.g. “I love chocolate,” “I really like  watching the ‘Modern Family’ because it is so funny.”  Sentences can be written in braille and print, depending on the needs to the student.

“I hate doing the washing up,” “I don’t want to do my homework.” Place them on the speech bubble base one at a time.

Next: On strips of paper print some different voice tones, e.g. “Say in grumpy voice”, “Say in excited voice”. “Say in enthusiastic voice”.

Child picks a voice tone card and reads the sentence from the speech bubble in that voice! Discussion could follow as to the voice tone that might actually be used to say each sentence, and the likely  facial expression and body language of the person whilst speaking. 

Suggestion 2

There are more ideas for resources at https://www.positiveeye.co.uk/

74 Fun Tongue Twisters to Improve Your Kid's Language Development

I ncorporating tongue twisters into a child's routine can be a playful way to enhance language skills, foster speech development, and promote cognitive growth.

There’s nothing cuter than a preschooler falling over their words as they attempt a tongue twister, such as “She sells seashells by the seashore.”

A tongue twister is a phrase or sentence that's difficult to articulate quickly and accurately, particularly when spoken aloud. They usually contain a series of similar sounds, repetitive consonant patterns, or difficult combinations of words.

Tongue twisters challenge the speaker's ability to enunciate clearly, often leading to humorous results. But they're more than just an entertaining party trick. These phrases are often used as speech exercises to improve pronunciation, articulation, and fluency. They can also enhance language skills , especially for children.

Keep reading to learn more about the benefits of tongue twisters for children. We also rounded up 75 fun tongue twisters to share with your entire family.

Related: 105 Conversation Starters for Kids of All Ages

Benefits of Tongue Twisters for Kids 

Tongue twisters provide a host of advantages for child development, making them more than just a playful linguistic exercise. We broke down several benefits of tongue twisters below.

Speech development and pronunciation

You've probably seen singers or actors practicing tongue twisters to warm up. That’s because the challenge of reciting tongue twisters quickly can develop coordination between the lips, tongue, and vocal cords, contributing to improved overall speech abilities. 

Along those lines, tongue twisters can help kids develop their pronunciation skills and their understanding of the spoken word. “When children attempt tongue twisters, they naturally slow down their speech to pronounce sounds accurately, which in turn helps them to slow down their thinking process," says Michelle Mintz, MS, CCC-SLP, a speech-language pathologist with over 25 years of experience, and the founder/CEO of Baby Blooming Moments .

Language skills

Tongue twisters promote vocabulary expansion and strengthen language skills, fostering better communication abilities. “Since tongue twisters involve strings of similarly pronounced words, they serve as a great way to strengthen articulation skills," says Kimberly Berens , PhD, an education and child development expert who founded Fit Learning . Articulation involves the clarity with which a person speaks. 

Brain development

The cognitive challenge of navigating the intricate twists and turns of tongue twisters is like a workout for the brain. It contributes to enhanced brain development and cognitive functions in children.

Concentration

Mastering tongue twisters requires focused concentration, helping children develop better attention spans . As Mintz explains, “Tongue twisters are like fun puzzles that make kids concentrate and think hard, helping them stay focused and learn better."

Practicing tongue twisters can also develop a child's confidence, “Articulation deficits can be embarrassing and impact a person’s willingness to speak publicly," says Dr. Berens. "By using tongue twisters, a person can repeatedly practice a short, challenging phrase until they can say the phrase quickly and without errors. Such practice will have generative effects on a person’s overall articulation skills.”

Related: 5 Ways to Support Your Child's Preschool Curriculum at Home

Easy Tongue Twisters for Young Kids

• Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
• Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear.
• Friendly frogs frolic freely by the flowing brook.
• Sunny Susan swiftly sews seven silky scarves.
• Bobby's big blue balloon bobbed blissfully beyond.
• Danny's dog dances down the dirt road.
• Happy hedgehogs hop hurriedly over the hill.
• Grace grabbed a group of green grapes.
• Billy's big brown bear bumbled beyond the bustling bazaar.
• Polly Penguin painted pretty pictures on a pink paper.
• Silly Sally swiftly slides down the slippery slope.
• Timmy Turtle tiptoed through the tall tulips twice.
• Giddy goats graze on the green grassy ground.
• Playful puppies prance and pounce in the pretty park.
• Sammy Snake silently slithers through the sandy desert.
• Little Larry likes licking lollipops lazily.
• Wendy's white wagon whizzed wildly down the winding road.
• Merry monkeys munch on melons in the morning mist.
• How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
• Sally sells seashells by the seashore.
• Tommy Tiger tiptoed through the tall tulips.
• Cheerful Charlie chased chirping chipmunks cheerfully.
• Whimsical Willie whistled while walking with Winston.
• Frisky foxes frolic in the frosty forest.
• Red lorry, yellow lorry.

Intermediate Tongue Twisters for Progressing Skills

• How can a clam cram in a clean cream can?
• The great Greek grape growers grow great Greek grapes.
• Curly caterpillars crawl carefully on the cabbage leaves.
• Slimy snails silently slither through the slimy swamp.
• Two tiny turtles tumbled tactfully toward the tall tulips.
• Betty bought a batch of bright blue buttons.
• Randy the rabbit ran around the rugged rocky ridge.
• Four friendly frogs frolicked by the frozen pond.
• Hopping hedgehogs huddled in heaps on the hilly meadow.
• Peter's playful parrot picked a peck of painted peanuts.
• Furry ferrets frolicked freely in the fields of fragrant flowers.
• Daisy's dainty dachshund dug deep down in the dry dirt.
• Benny's bright blue bus boldly bounced down the bumpy road.
• Cherry Cheeko cheerfully chatted while chewing cherry-flavored cheese.
• A black bug bleeds black blood, while a blue bug bleeds blue blood.
• A proper copper coffee pot.
• Unique New York, New York's unique.
• I thought I thought of thinking of thanking you.
• Cleverly carving curly cues, Carl created a captivating carousel.
• Brody's bouncing basketball bumped against the bedroom wall.
• Whiskered Walter whistled while weaving wacky woolen weavings.
• Greta's great grandma gathered grapes for a glorious grape pie.
• Precious puppies pranced proudly past the picket fence.
• Eleven benevolent elephants.
• Freshly fried flying fish.

Challenging Tongue Twisters for Advanced Practice

• Sheena leads, Sheila needs.
• Irish wristwatch, Swiss wristwatch.
• Fred fed Ted bread and Ted fed Fred bread.
• Walter's whimsical walrus waltzed with wily woodland weasels.
• Zeke zipped through the zigzagging zoo, zealously zapping zebras.
• Priscilla's perplexing puzzle pieces perfectly puzzled her playmates.
• Quentin quickly quizzed the quirky queen about quantum quasars.
• Swan swam over the sea, swim, swan, swim!
• Lesser leather never weathered wetter weather better.
• Zigzagging zeppelins zealously zip across the zany zone.
• Quincy quickly quelled the quivering quokkas' quizzical queries.
• Vivian's voracious vocabulary varied vastly during the vacation.
• Dexter the dragon diligently dug a deep den in the dark dale.
• Geraldine gracefully glided through the grand gala, garnering great applause.
• Victor vehemently validated his vast vocabulary with vivacious vigor.
• Zelda zealously zigzagged through the zephyr, zooming zestfully.
• A black bloke's back brake block broke.
• Six slippery snails slid silently seaward.
• There was a minimum of cinnamon in the aluminum pan.
• Six short slow shepherds.
• Pad kid poured curd pulled cod.
• Cows graze in groves on grass which grows in grooves in groves.
• If you notice this notice, you will notice that this notice is not worth noticing.
• The seething sea ceases.

Related: 17 Fun Learning Activities for Kids

Tips for Practicing Tongue Twisters with Kids:

To make the most of tongue twisters with children, consider the following tips.

Create your own tongue twisters

Foster creativity by crafting personalized tongue twisters with similar-sounding words or alliteration. Kids particularly love to hear their name used in this way. For example, you can rely on alliteration to pick words that start with the same consonant as your child's name, such as, “Connor caught a creepy crawly,” or “Samira swam seven seas.”

Progress gradually

Start with easy tongue twisters and gradually progress to more difficult ones as children build confidence and skill. Challenge your kids to get quicker each time and say a tongue twister ten times in a row.

Incorporate tongue twisters into daily activities

Infuse tongue twisters into daily routines , such as car rides or shopping trips, to turn them into entertaining learning experiences.

Consider individual needs

If a child has a speech disability , consult with a speech-language pathologist or a developmental expert before introducing tongue twisters. This will avoid potential impacts on self-esteem and confidence.

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