Wild Rose Learning

Fun ways to get your kids off their screens to learn grammar and spelling.

You’ve probably been noticing that kids are glued to their screens.

You want them to do something productive, such as learn how to spell better or practice grammar rules, but they refuse.

You don’t know what to do.

Well, maybe these 3 fun activities will help your kid become a better speller and writer.

1. Spelling and Vocabulary Puzzles

When there’s about 15 minutes left in my tutoring sessions, I like to give my students a spelling or vocabulary puzzle as a treat if they’ve finished their work for the day.

And you may think that kids will refuse to do it. But if you phrase the worksheets as a puzzle or game, kids are willing to do them.

So, try persuading your kid with word searches, word shapes, and crosswords.

These are fun activities and they’ll teach your kid phonics and new words, which help improve their spelling and vocabulary.

2. Mad Libs

Mad Libs are funny fill-in-the-blank stories. 

“But how would that help my kid learn grammar?” you’re probably thinking.

There are special Mad-Lib style worksheets, where each blank is a part of speech (nouns, verbs, etc.) you have to fill in. 

For example, the story will give a sentence with a missing word. And underneath the blank, it will specify which part of speech needs to be used. 

Your kid will have to figure out what the part of speech is and a word that can be used to fill out the blank.

I like to give these out as fun reviews. Once a student has learned a handful of them, I’ll give them one of these worksheets to test their memory.

Many of my students remember them, but if they don’t, I’ll give them a quick review.

However, grammar Mad Libs work best if your kid knows the parts of speech. If they don’t, it’ll be difficult for them because they won’t know what type of word to use.

That’s why you should teach them the grammar rules beforehand or have them learn the parts of speech in workbooks.

You can also use my free worksheets, which you can find here.

3. Funny Story Prompts

One of the best ways to learn grammar, spelling and vocabulary is by writing because if your kid makes mistakes, you can fix the mistakes and explain why it’s wrong.

I like to hand out writing prompts at the end of each month to see what mistakes or problems my students still help with. After I mark the stories, I’ll hand them back and explain their mistakes to them.

However, I’ve found that to get kids to want to do this, you’ll have to use funny and entertaining writing prompts to convince them. 

Remember, it has to be fun. So, try using story prompts that are funny and silly because these will encourage them to be more creative.

Also, here’s a tip on how to encourage your kid to write more descriptive sentences.

Bonus: Take Them To The Library

The best way to get your kid off their devices is to get them out of the house and doing something.

One of the best (and most fun) activities is taking your kid to your local library.

They can explore the different genres of books and stories, and maybe even develop a reading habit, which will do wonders for their grammar, spelling, and vocabulary.

So, make visiting the local library a weekly routine and you’ll raise an avid reader.

Final Thoughts

If you have a kid who is always on his/her screen, try one of these fun and productive activities.