[Childcare] Wordplay and game ideas everyone can enjoy together

Onomatopoeia Game

[Quiz Play] Try an onomatopoeia game with the kids!

Let’s draw pictures of living creatures, vehicles, and more on the front, and write the sounds or cries they make on the back, then make a paper puppet (peep-show) set you can use to enjoy an onomatopoeia game.

Show the side with the words to the children, have them read the words aloud, and ask, “What makes this sound?” as a quiz.

Or show the side with the picture and have everyone imagine the sounds or cries together and try voicing them—it sounds fun either way.

Let’s all enjoy the pleasant rhythms of onomatopoeic and mimetic words.

It would be wonderful if this leads to the joy of expressing what they see and think in words.

Illustration Shiritori

[Wordplay] Illustration Shiritori ②

Let’s have fun playing shiritori using illustrations.

Even very young children can easily imagine the names of things when they have pictures, so it’s highly recommended.

Start by checking the names of the illustrations together, then begin the game.

If you link the pictures the children drew through shiritori, it will likely deepen their understanding of and interest in words even more.

Try incorporating various categories—such as friends’ names and toy names—so the children can feel familiar and enjoy the game, adding creative twists as you play.

Shiritori Cards (for 5-year-olds)

[For 5-year-olds] Let’s make Shiritori cards!

How about trying a shiritori card game that makes the word chain kids love even more exciting? First, within each team, each person picks a word that fits the shiritori chain and draws a picture and the word on a card.

Next, place everyone’s cards face down and take turns flipping them over.

If the flipped card completes the shiritori sequence, you get to keep that card—that’s the rule.

You’ll enjoy expressing your chosen word by making the card, and it can also be a great way to deepen communication with friends.

Once you get the hang of it, add more cards and keep increasing the number of words!

Vegetable Song

[♪ Song Anime] Vegetable Song (Vocals: Itchy & Naru)

This song, whose lyrics directly express the names and traits of vegetables, is a hand-play activity that even very young infants can enjoy.

You can bump your fists together with a “ton-ton” or raise your index fingers with a “pi-pi,” and freely enjoy the gestures while keeping time with the pleasant rhythm of the words.

It’s also fun to arrange the song by having everyone find vegetables and fruits that don’t appear in the lyrics in picture books or field guides and adding them in.

As you sing it repeatedly, you’ll likely remember lots of vegetable names and their characteristics!

alliteration

[Kindergarten] Onset Play

Prepare two words that start with the same initial sound, like “tai” (sea bream) and “tako” (octopus), and make paper puppet cards with drawings of each.

Children look at the puppet pictures and listen to the sounds, then respond and move their bodies to match the images as they play.

This activity can stimulate many aspects of development, such as listening to words, understanding words through pictures, and expressing images with their bodies.

It’s also recommended to have the children find words with the same initial sound themselves, make their own cards, and play with friends.

This can help them become aware of the sound of words and provide opportunities to learn new vocabulary.