10 English games to play at home with preschoolers

Listening games

• 1. Follow the instruction: "Touch your nose", "Clap your hands", "Jump!" Do it together first, then just say it.
• 2. Treasure hunt: hide a few toys and say "Find the red ball." Your child finds it and brings it back.
• 3. Slap the card: lay out 4–6 picture cards, say a word, your child slaps the right card. Add another player to race.
• 4. True or false: hold an apple and say "This is a banana." Your child shakes their head or corrects you. Children love catching a parent out.
• 5. Colour hunt: "Find something red!" Your child runs around looking for something red. See colours.

Speaking games

• 6. What's missing?: lay out 5 cards, your child closes their eyes, you hide one and ask "What's missing?" Your child names it.
• 7. Mystery bag: put a toy in a cloth bag and ask "What is it?" Your child feels it and guesses: "It is a ball."
• 8. Play shop: set up toys as a shop. Your child buys: "An apple, please." You hand it over: "Here you are."
• 9. Count and jump: "Jump three times!" Your child jumps and counts "one, two, three". See numbers.
• 10. Teddy hide-and-seek: hide a teddy; your child says where it is: "The bear is under the chair." See in, on, under.

Sentences, tap to hear

Listen a few times yourself, then say them with your child as you play.

• Touch your nose.Game 1.
• Find the red ball.Game 2.
• This is a ball.Game 4: say it right, or on purpose wrong.
• Find something red.Game 5.
• What's missing?Game 6.
• What is it?Game 7.
• It is a big red ball.Game 7: a longer answer than "It is a ball."
• An apple, please.Game 8.
• Here you are.Game 8.
• Jump three times!Game 9.
• The bear is under the chair.Game 10.

Tips that make games work

• Show first, then let your child copy. Skip long explanations of the rules.
• Swap roles: let your child give the instructions and you follow. Now they have to speak.
• Use the same six words across several games through the week. See how children remember new words.
• If your child is not speaking yet, stick with the listening games. See why a child understands but will not speak.

Free printables

• Every topic page has a chart and a worksheet, and vocabulary topics also have flashcards to cut out for games 3, 6 and 8.
• For more on a phone, Find It! is a free treasure-hunt game with 130 objects.