Grammar Help for Kids: Fun Ways to Practice and Learn Grammar

Supplemental Grammar Practice for Kids

Learning proper grammar will help your child become better at oral and written communication. As kids become more comfortable with grammar, they can construct a variety of simple, compound and complex sentences. The following activities allow kids to use common and proper nouns, identify sentence fragments, practice correct punctuation and learn parts of speech.

What Are Some Fun Ways to Practice Grammar?

Common vs. Proper Nouns Exercise

To help your daughter learn the difference between common and proper nouns, give her a small notebook and go for a walk around your neighborhood. Ask her to write down the common nouns for anything that she sees, like trees, sidewalks, cars and houses. Instruct her to also write down proper nouns such as the makes and models of cars or the name of the street where you live. Afterwards, ask your daughter to write a short story using the nouns in her notebook.

Parts of Speech Activity

Write the word 'TRAVEL' down the side of a piece of light-colored construction paper, using one letter for each line. Divide the paper into columns and write a different part of speech at the top of each column, such as 'noun,' 'adverb,' 'verb,' 'adjective' and so on. Ask your son to brainstorm words that begin with each of the letters that spell out 'travel.' He can sort these words in the relevant column next to the appropriate letter. For example, if he came up with the word 'visit,' he would write that next to the letter V in the verb column.

Punctuation Game

You can help your daughter practice punctuation by making flash cards with punctuation marks. Then write several sentences - leaving out the punctuation - and have her look through the flash cards to select the punctuation marks that belong in the sentence. Once you've gone through all the sentences you've written, show her each card again and ask her to write her own sentence using that form of punctuation.

Sentence Fragment Practice

If your son has difficulty distinguishing between a complete sentence and a sentence fragment, try this activity. Give him a sheet of paper and go through your music collection, asking him to make a list of song titles. Review each title and ask him whether it's a sentence fragment or a complete sentence. For the titles that are fragments, ask him to make them into complete sentences. For titles that are complete sentences, have him add the proper punctuation.