What do family game night and verbal SAT, GRE, and IQ score-improving studies have in common? How about parents inconspicuously sneaking education into their kids’ fun? Students can start learning the parts of speech, English as a second language, and bigger words used in the correct context with three word-oriented games: Mad Libs, Apples to Apples, and Balderdash.
Warning – side effects may include increased vocabulary, laughing cramps, and erratic urges to use the dictionary!
1. Mad Libs
The brainchild of creators Roger Price and Leonard Stern, Mad Libs books have been in print for over fifty years and are certainly well-established enough to deserve their copyrighted tagline, “World’s Greatest Word Game.”
Each book has a theme. “Night of the Living Mad Libs,” “Worst Case Scenario,” and “Once Upon a Mad Libs” are just a few titles in circulation, and the twenty-some Mad Libs it contains relate to that theme. Mad Libs, each about a page long, draw from familiar material and scenarios but cast keywords as blanks.
With each blank, a prompt is listed – “noun,” “plural noun,” “adjective,” “verb,” “adverb,” “exclamation,” “silly word,” etc. – and the player who will read the Mad Libs when it is finished asks the other players to volunteer answers based on the prompts. After a few rounds of Mad Libs, you’re sure to start noticing spectacular terms – “dapper,” “hullabaloo,” “precarious,” “rigmarole,” “crickey!” – and be jotting them down for the next round!
This game is perfect for teaching kids about the different parts of speech, but the fun certainly isn’t limited to children – recent years have seen the release of Mad Libs for adults, including themes such as “Dysfunctional Family Therapy,” “Advice for the Lovelorn,” and “Bachelorette Bash.” Regardless of the theme and age of the players, Mad Libs is a place to use what vocabulary you know, encounter new words, and always find a reason to learn more!
Three places to play Mad Libs online for kids for free include:
2. Apples to Apples
This addictive game, intended for four to ten players, is one of matching, mismatching, imperfect synonyms, and extreme antonyms.
Players are dealt a hand of red noun cards whose subject matter – including basic items, famous places, people, events, phenomena, etc. – spans from ordinary to extraordinary. A hand might include “Airline Food,” “Conspiracy Theories,” “My 16th Birthday,” “Count Dracula,” “Backstreet Boys,” “Telling the Truth,” and “Romeo and Juliet.”
One player, on a rotating basis, lays down a green adjective card; the other players must each submit a red noun card to try and match it. “Match,” however, is a subjective term here – players can try to play off the actual meaning or go for comedic effect and pick something offbeat – it depends on how you think the judge (the player who put down the green card) will react. For example, if the adjective was “Deadly,” the player with the aforementioned hand might logically put down “Count Dracula” or “Romeo and Juliet”; but if the player thought the judge would laugh, they might also consider submitting “Airline Food.” The idea is to get the judge to choose your red card. When he or she does, you earn the green card from the round; the winner is the player who collects a certain number of green cards first. (This varies depending on the number of players.)
This is a great way to get younger players to engage with vocabulary. Additionally, each green card contains three synonyms in addition to its featured adjective, so while many of the prompts are basic language, it’s a chance for developing minds, and perhaps those learning English, to integrate and expand their lexicons.
3. Balderdash
A wacky crossover containing elements of both dictionary and poker, Balderdash boasts itself as “The Hilarious Bluffing Game.” Of the games in this article, it is probably the one that most allows for creative liberties – and prompts commensurate laugh attacks. This game is intended for three to ten players.
One player (or team of two) at a time takes on the role of Dasher, which is similar to the judging role in Apples to Apples. The Dasher takes a Balderdash card, which contains five words and their definitions; a roll of the die determines which word commands the round. Let’s say the Dasher rolls a five. Number five is “heckelphone.” The Dasher reads the word aloud, spells it, and other players must create definitions for it. The Dasher writes down the real definition, then collects the composed ones and mixes them together; when the Dasher reads all of the definitions aloud, players must guess which definition is the true one. The real definition “A woodwind instrument resembling a large oboe,” will have to pick out from others, both serious and humorous: “A primitive German radio technology,” “A scientific name for the spine of a fish,” and “The constant ringing of a clingy significant other.” This is where a good poker face comes in handy!
Points are awarded based on who guesses whose definition and who guesses correctly.
Balderdash, while most suitable for a slightly older age range, is guaranteed to introduce all players to glorious and outlandish new vocabulary – if you can stop laughing long enough to learn it!
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