[Playable from lower grades] Japanese language games and activities

Opposite Words Quiz

[Opposite Words Quiz] (1) A word game mainly in hiragana for toddlers and children: opposite words, antonyms

Let’s recall words we know! Here are some ideas for an opposite-words quiz.

Opposite words are words whose meanings are completely contrary to each other, also known as antonyms.

This time, let’s try a quiz about opposite words.

It might help to tackle it while recalling familiar words.

For example, there’s a question like, “What is the opposite of ‘up’?” presented along with an illustration.

The illustration serves as a hint, so feel free to give it a try.

Hiragana Collecting Game

Let’s play with 50-sound (hiragana) cards! Here are some ideas for a hiragana-collecting game.

Once you’ve prepared cards or slips of paper with one hiragana character on each, you’re ready to go! Within a time limit, try to make as many words as you can that fit a given theme.

For example, if the theme is “animals,” you can combine characters to form words like い・ぬ (dog) or き・り・ん (giraffe).

It’s helpful to set aside space to place completed words, so it’s easy for kids to understand.

Mitsukaruta

[Rules Introduction] Mitsukaruta: Find it in three

It’s a fun game where your vocabulary decides who wins.

Prepare stacks by placing seven cards, each with one hiragana character, and layering more cards on top to form piles.

Everyone playing draws one card from any of the seven piles, and the game begins.

Use three or more of the visible letters on the piles to come up with a word and say your answer.

It’s also okay to use words that include letters not currently visible on the piles.

You get to keep the cards for the letters you used.

There’s no set turn order—first come, first served.

Keep calling out all the words you know!

expand_lessRaise the rankingexpand_morelower

Nakajima Junko

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Kanji Quiz for First Graders

[For Elementary School Students] Quiz with First-Grade Kanji

Recommended for those who are good at kanji! Let me introduce an idea for a quiz using the kanji learned in first grade.

When you think of quizzes, there are all kinds of categories, right? This time, let’s try a quiz that uses kanji.

Since the questions use kanji learned in first grade, it should be easy to jump in.

For example, the characters “七夕” are shown, and the question asks, “How do you read this?” Of course, there are hints, so if you don’t know the answer, try thinking it through using the hints.

A riddle mainly written in hiragana

[Riddles for Kids] Educational & Brain-Training Quiz • Easy & Mostly Hiragana for Toddlers! Audio Only OK — Great for Bedtime Too

Once children start going to elementary school, their range of activities broadens compared to before, and all sorts of things begin to catch their eye.

They learn that a café is a place to drink coffee, that you can even buy a gravestone at a stone shop—things they didn’t understand before suddenly start to make sense, and I’m sure everything they see becomes fascinating and intriguing.

Learning words is just as much fun, so why not try some Hiragana riddles? They’re not only enjoyable but also help with Japanese language study—truly killing two birds with one stone.

Grown-ups, please join in the thinking, too!