Learn by Playing! Recommended Games with a Kanji Theme
There are adults who aren’t good with kanji, or who feel like they know them but can’t quite recall them, right?
Once you develop even a slight aversion, the hurdle gets higher, so I’d love for people to learn in a fun way.
How about turning it into a game to learn kanji—getting hands-on with kanji while you play?
We introduce various kanji games, from free apps to board and card games.
Adults can play too, so why not try them with your children?
- [Playable from lower grades] Japanese language games and activities
- [Interesting] Summary of Kanji Reading Quiz Questions
- [For Elementary School Students] Country Names in Kanji Quiz. A quick, fun quiz
- [For Elementary School Students] Cipher Quiz: Fun Puzzle Riddles
- [Elementary School] Let's Learn Kanji with Songs! The Fun Kanji Song
- [Play Right Away!] Exciting Recreation Games Recommended for Elementary School Students
- Quiz for junior high school students
- [Brain Training] Difficult Riddles That Even Adults Struggle With
- [Get Friendly with Games] Math Games, Apps, and Activities
- Recommended card game. Easy! Fun! Adults get hooked too!
- [Interesting] A collection of brain teaser quiz questions. Let's train your brain!
- Recommended for upper elementary grades! Exciting indoor recreation and games
- [Interesting] Collection of Matchstick Quiz Problems
[Learn by Playing!] Recommended Games with a Kanji Theme (1–10)
Kanji reading buzzer quiz
We’d like to introduce “Elementary School Handwritten Kanji Drill,” an app that lets you review the 1,026 kanji learned over six years of elementary school! You can write directly with your finger on a tablet, and it marks your answers right away.
You can also choose the grade level and course, so it’s great for matching your child’s learning stage.
If you’re unsure, you can look at the answer and trace it to memorize the correct form.
It’s a free app, so it’s perfect not only for individualized study but also for quick practice in spare moments.
Install it on your device and it will be a big help for your child’s kanji learning.
Japanese Language Pirate
Why not incorporate the learning app “Kokugo Pirates,” which has surpassed 4 million downloads worldwide, into your kanji study? Even children who struggle with studying can enjoy learning kanji through a game! It includes all 1,026 kanji taught from first to sixth grade in elementary school.
Stages are divided by grade, so kids can enjoy the game at a level that suits their learning progress.
With cute pirate characters and fun animations that keep them engaged, plus a well-balanced difficulty setting, it helps boost motivation too.
Group Kanji Relay Competition
Here’s a recommended group competition Kanji Relay for classroom group activities! It’s great for reviewing kanji you’ve learned.
First, make groups of about three to four students and give each group a sheet with a grid.
Students take turns writing kanji they’ve studied, and the simple rule is to compete to see how many they can write within the time limit.
The key is to divide the groups in a way that avoids big gaps between teams.
Since all you need is paper, why not try adding this activity between lessons?
[Learn by Playing!] Recommended Games with a Kanji Theme (11–20)
Kanji expert
It’s easier to remember kanji if you think of them as being made up of a left “radical” (hen) and a right “component” (tsukuri).
The card game “Kanji Hakase” focuses on that idea.
You can learn the kanji taught in elementary school while playing! The rules are simple: shuffle the cards well, place them face down in the center as a draw pile, and take turns flipping them over.
If you can combine the card you flipped with a card on the table to form a complete kanji, you get to take those cards.
The player who forms the most kanji wins! You can also have fun studying by adapting rules from games like Speed or Concentration (Memory).
Kanji and Words You Can Remember with Puns
Let me introduce a fun kanji drill that helps you learn through puns: “Learn Kanji and Words with Puns”! Puns are actually an intellectual form of wordplay.
Coming up with puns can even boost your vocabulary! Their catchy rhythm makes them easy to remember.
Even difficult kanji become easier to memorize and recall when learned through puns.
The book is packed with example sentences using compound words and idioms, and it also teaches proper stroke order thoroughly.
It’s a perfect book to try for children who struggle with writing kanji.
Kanji ateji composition
If you’re looking for a quick and easy kanji-learning game, I recommend “Kanji-Only Composition.” You have players write a sentence based on a theme, using as many kanji as possible.
It ends up looking a bit like Chinese, which is visually fun! Since making everything kanji can be hard, hiragana and katakana are fine too.
You can compete on how many kanji you use, read each other’s sentences with friends, and showcase the funniest lines to make it even more exciting.
Give it a try!
101 Kanji Karuta
Why not incorporate “101 Kanji Karuta,” which lets you learn from the origins of kanji, into your child’s kanji studies? It’s said that most kanji are built from 101 basic characters, and by putting pictures, pictographs, and kanji on cards, even children who struggle with kanji will find it engaging! There are reading cards with illustrations and catchy phrases, and grabbing cards with pictographs and kanji, so kids can master the basics while playing karuta.
It’s fun for everyone from young children to adults, so give it a try!