Understanding and using verbs is an important skill for young children, especially as they start to try word combinations and sentences. Verbs are part of everything we do: walking, shopping, eating, the list goes on. If you have an animal lover on your hands, here are some great activities to encourage early verbs!
- Animal dig. Using a sandpit or sensory box, hide some different animals in the box. You can also hide things relating to the animals, like the food they eat. Before you put them in the box, take pictures of everything you’re hiding to give your child a clue about what they’re looking for. Provide your child with a shovel and get digging! A magnifying glass is a fun extra for inspecting their finds afterwards.
Verbs: dig, find, look, search, grab
Other words: wow, my turn, in, out, animal names, shovel, sand - Animal rescue. Grab a roll of painter’s tape and small toy animals, and find an empty space on the wall. Tape the animals up on the wall. Tell your child you need to rescue the animals and need their help! Encourage them to tell you which animal to rescue and work on problem solving skills by figuring out how to get them down. Will a fire engine come to the rescue, is a plane going to swoop in to save the day or will the animals need a ladder to climb down?
Verbs: help, rescue, pull, stick, fall, climb
Other words: more, my turn, animal names - Animal treasure hunt. Take pictures of a few of your child’s favourite animals and then hide them around the room or in the backyard. Use different positions (in, on, under) and things that open/shut for extra words. Show your child the picture of what they’re searching for, and then get hunting!
Verbs: look, find, search, hide, get, hunt
Other words: open, shut, in, on, out, off, animal names - Animal craft. Print out a cut-and-paste craft of your child’s favourite animal. You can find lots of these by searching ‘cut and paste craft for [animal]’ on Google. Sit down and make the animal with them! For extra language, talk about the different parts of the animal, what it looks like, where it lives and any other interesting features.
Verbs: colour, draw, cut, glue, make
Other words: more, my turn, like, animal names, colours - Animal lunchtime. Take out your child’s favourite animal toys and set up either pretend or real food. Invite your child to lunch with the animals and see what the animals like and what they don’t like! Make sure to use lots of facial expressions to demonstrate when something is yummy/yucky to your child.
Verbs: eat, taste, lick, spit out
Other words: more, yummy, yucky, food names, animal names
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