A strong vocabulary is key to your child’s success in reading, writing, and communication. The more words they know, the better. It helps with being able to express themselves clearly, understand new concepts, and excel at school - both in the classroom and when sitting exams like the 11 plus and SATs. Building vocabulary doesn’t have to feel like homework, and it's never too early to start, so here are five simple and fun ways to help your child expand their vocabulary at home, whatever their age.

1. Make Reading a Daily Habit

This is our number one for a good reason. Reading is one of the best ways to introduce your child to new words. Whether you’re reading a bedtime story or exploring a book together during the day, encourage discussions about unfamiliar words. Ask questions like, “What do you think this word means?” or “Can you think of another way to say this?”

Although we love physical books, e-readers can be a great tool for those children who don't like to ask for help. A quick tap can bring up a full definition (most offer this - just check the specifications) along with synonyms and other information.

For younger readers, picture books offer great opportunities to learn new words - have lots of discussions around what you're seeing and what's happening in the story.

2. Play Word Games

Games like Scrabble, Boggle (one of our favourites), and word searches are excellent for reinforcing vocabulary in a fun way - we also love the travel versions of these games to take with us on trips 🚗✈️. You can also introduce your own simple word games such as:

• 📅 Word of the Day Challenge – Introduce a new word every morning and encourage your child to use it throughout the day.
• 🔄 Synonym Swap – Give a common word (like “big”) and challenge your child to come up with as many synonyms as they can (huge, gigantic, enormous, etc.).
• ❓ 20 Questions – Choose a word and let your child ask yes/no questions to guess it.

3. Encourage Storytelling and Conversation

Engaging your child in meaningful conversations helps them learn new words naturally. Encourage them to describe their day using interesting words or tell you a made-up story. To avoid those all too frequent one-word responses, use questions like:

• 🦄 “If you could invent a new animal, what would it be like?”
• 😂 “What’s the funniest thing that happened to you this week?”

4. Expose Them to a Variety of Words

Children pick up words from their surroundings, so make sure they’re exposed to rich and varied language every day. This can be done through:

• 🎧 Watching educational shows or listening to audiobooks - Try 'Newsround' and putting on something suitable during long car journeys! 🚗
• 🌍 Introducing them to new topics - Maybe it's space, nature, or history - anything they show an interest in - they all come with their own unique vocabulary.
• 🏛️ When visiting places like museums or gallerys - There are plenty of places with free entry to visit. Point out new words and let them see and hear them in action. Challenge them to find some words you don't know too!

5. Use Digital Learning Resources 😉

Structured learning still plays an important part. Our vocabulary module is designed to help KS1 and KS2 children build their word knowledge through fun play - introducing new words with definitions and examples tailored to your little wizard's own age range.

You set the default difficulty and question types so they don't get overwhelmed with words or questions which are too tricky, and with synonyms, antonyms, spellings and even anagrams in the mix, your child will be learning without even realising it! Climbing the leaderboards, collecting gems, and earning shiny badges all adds to the fun. 🎮✨

Want to give it a try? Sign up today with our 14-day free trial today. and watch your child’s vocabulary grow! 🚀