Making Verbs Easy for kids: Exploring the Action Words

Our life is full of actions! Has your child ever asked you questions like “What is climbing or swinging?” especially when they go out, maybe in a park or somewhere?

In this blog, we are going to make verbs learning as simple as ABC and as fun as a clown at a birthday party! 

Verbs for kids

Verbs bring life to sentences, adding action and excitement. To put it simply, “Verbs are the action Superheroes of the sentence!”

Types of verbs

Action verbs

These are the verbs that convey actions. Action verbs are all the things you can do with your body, like jump, skip, hop, smell, run, talk, etc. Verbs can also show feelings and emotions, such as laugh, cry, weep, or giggle.

Linking Verbs

Linking verbs are like sentence helpers. They don’t show action, but they link the subject to more information. “Be” is a linking verb.

Helping verbs

These verbs are like helpers! They give the main verb in a sentence a boost to do its job better. Words like “can,” “will,” “shall,” “could,” “would,” “should,” “must,” and “might” are all part of this helpful team.

Read more: 20 Short Moral Stories for kids in English | Valuable Lessons

Making learning verbs fun

Let me share my special trick for teaching verbs to young kids (ages 3 to 4). I take them on a magical journey to a visual zoo! Each child gets a golden ticket to visit every animal, but there’s a catch—they have to say and act out the actions the animals are doing in the pictures. The kids absolutely adore this game! Picture them swinging like monkeys, waddling like hippos, roaring like tigers, hopping like bunnies, chirping like birds, and so much more. 

Here are some of the learning activities for kids

1. Storytelling with actions:

Tell stories to kids that are full of action. It’s always best to act out the actions and use different tones to make the stories fun for kids. You can also ask kids to build their own story by showing some pictures hints.

2. Verb hunting:

To play this activity, go on an exciting verb hunt in the park (or any outdoor place) and ask the kids to spot the actions taking place around them.

3. Guess the action:

This one is my favourite. Pretend to play out actions such as cooking, hopping, or dancing, and ask the kids to guess the verbs.

4. Alphabet train:

If you want to enhance your child’s creative thinking skills, this is the best activity to perform. Have the kids line up like a train, with one child leading as the engine. Then, starting with the engine, each child says an action word that begins with the next letter of the alphabet.

Read more: 6 kinds of adjectives that a Class 7 kid must know ! (with Examples)

5. Sing along:

Sing songs that include actions, such as “If You’re Happy and You Know It, Clap Your Hands” “I am a little tea pot” or “open and shut” The repetition of words and phrases in these songs help learn the action words such as “clap,” “stomp,” “shout”, open, shut, pour and tip, etc and allows kids to practice them multiple times. This L learning can help them understand and remember the meaning of the action words as well.

6. Super Action hero challenge:

Create a fun game by filling a bowl with chits having different action words. Each chit can represent a different superpower, such as “Mr. Wind can blow,” “Mr. Flash can run fast,” or “Mighty Monkey can hop.” Let the kids pick a chit and act out the superpower.

7. Create your Verb Flower:

Let’s get creative with our verb learning! Have your child create a “Verb Flower Poster.” Ask them to bring a photo of themselves doing an action and stick it on a petal of a flower on the poster. Then, they can label each picture with the corresponding verb.

8.⁠ ⁠Object actions: 

Assign each child an object (or they can choose by themselves) and ask them to make sentences with each object. For example, they might point to a chair and say “sit” or point to a door and say “open” or find a bed and say “sleep”. This activity makes learning about action words even more fun and helps kids understand the meaning and enhances their vocabulary.

Read more: English Riddles for Kids: 20 Short Easy Riddles [With Answers]

Learning to read

Here are some activities that can help children learn to read and understand verbs in a fun and engaging way:

1. Verb Matching:

Create a fun game to learn verbs! On one side of the paper, write different verbs, and on the other side, paste pictures showing actions. Ask the kids to read the action words and match them with the corresponding action picture.

2. Verb puzzles:

Similarly, you can create puzzles with sentences that include verbs. Children can read the sentences and match them to the correct pictures or actions.

3. Verb worksheets:

It is easy to create some interesting worksheets that focus on verbs, such as fill-in-the-blank sentences or colour the pictures doing actions, or circle the verbs. By solving such worksheets, children can also enhance their reading skills.

4. Verb sentences:

Another activity for kids to help them with reading is to create simple sentences including verbs for example “The cat is sleeping” or “He can dance” or “I am eating” and ask the kids to read and identify verbs.

5. Verb books: 

Reading books is a smart way to start learning to read at a young age. To start with, read some books with lots of action words. When you read, point to the action words and talk about what they mean. Some of my recommendations are:

• “Action Verbs” by Miguel Santos
• “My First Book of Verbs” by Pegasus
• “Ruth Heller’s How to Hide a Butterfly & Other Insects” by Ruth Heller

Learning about verbs can be educational as well as fun. Encouraging your child to use verbs in their daily conversation is a great way to fortify their understanding. You can make use of thrilling activities or some creative ways to use at least one new verb each day or by fusing verbs into storytelling or role-playing activities. This not only helps them remember the words but also makes learning more engaging and enjoyable. By using verbs in context, children can see how these words bring action and excitement to their language, making their communication more vivid and expressive.

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