Speech, Language, and Literacy Games to Boost Language Development: School Age
Games and toys are not just for fun—they can also be powerful tools in helping children develop essential skills in speech, language, and literacy. Many of today’s most popular board games, card games, and interactive toys incorporate valuable elements that promote communication, problem-solving, and cognitive growth. Whether it's building vocabulary, enhancing comprehension, improving articulation, or boosting social skills, these games can make learning fun and effective.
In this blog post, we’ll explore why 16 fantastic games and toys are some of the best choices for supporting speech, language, and literacy development in children and adults alike. From word-building to creative storytelling, each of these games provides a unique opportunity to strengthen literacy and language skills while engaging players in exciting gameplay.
If you’d rather skip the explanation and get right to the source, check out my Amazon Storefront with all these ideas an more!
Why it’s great for language development:
Codenames is a word association game where players use clues to connect words on a grid. It promotes critical thinking, vocabulary development, and word association. The game requires players to come up with creative, descriptive clues, which builds cognitive flexibility and verbal expression. It’s excellent for practicing the ability to convey meaning concisely while considering multiple interpretations of words.
Skills developed: Vocabulary, word association, creative thinking, communication, team collaboration.
Why it’s great for language development:
Upwords is a twist on the classic Scrabble game, but with one key difference—players can stack letters on top of existing words to create new ones. This feature encourages children to expand their vocabulary and practice spelling in a dynamic and interactive way. It also promotes letter recognition and an understanding of word structure, which are fundamental skills for literacy development.
Skills developed: Spelling, word formation, letter recognition, cognitive flexibility.
Why it’s great for language development:
Wordical is a fast-paced word-building game that encourages players to form words with letter cards. The game emphasizes phonics and word formation, allowing children to practice constructing words from individual letters and sounds. This game is especially useful for early readers and those working on phonemic awareness.
Skills developed: Phonics, spelling, word-building, quick thinking.
Why it’s great for language development:
Splat is an engaging, interactive game that focuses on phonological awareness, specifically beginning and ending sounds. Players identify the sounds in words and "splat" the correct picture card corresponding to the sound. This game helps young children connect sounds to letters, an essential skill for reading and writing development.
Skills developed: Phonological awareness, sound-letter correspondence, early literacy.
Why it’s great for language development:
A Little Wordy is a strategy word game where players create words based on clues, but with limited letters. The game promotes creative word usage and helps children build their vocabulary, understand word meanings, and enhance their ability to think strategically while forming words.
Skills developed: Vocabulary, spelling, critical thinking, word formation.
Why it’s great for language development:
Quiddler is a card game that challenges players to create words using letter cards. It’s great for developing vocabulary, spelling, and an understanding of word construction. Because the game has a time element, it also helps players think quickly and efficiently while forming words, which improves both their fluency and confidence.
Skills developed: Vocabulary, spelling, quick thinking, word-building.
Why it’s great for language development:
This humorous and engaging game requires players to create poetry, but with one twist—they must do so using simple, caveman-like language! The game promotes creativity, sentence structure, and the use of descriptive language. It also encourages social play, as players engage in verbal exchanges while developing their language skills.
Skills developed: Sentence construction, creativity, descriptive language, social interaction.
Why it’s great for language development:
News at 11 is a storytelling game where players use cards to create news reports. It promotes creative thinking, vocabulary development, and storytelling. By constructing news stories based on various prompts, children practice organizing ideas, building narratives, and expanding their vocabulary.
Skills developed: Storytelling, vocabulary, creative expression, critical thinking.
Why it’s great for language development:
The Last Letter Card Game challenges players to form words that start with the last letter of the previous word, decided by fun silly images on playing cards. This promotes phonemic awareness and letter-sound correspondence, which are vital components of reading and spelling. It also enhances quick thinking and improves fluency in word formation.
Skills developed: Phonemic awareness, letter-sound correspondence, spelling, quick thinking.
Why it’s great for language development:
Apples to Apples is a party game that encourages players to match words with descriptive cards. It’s a great way to enhance vocabulary and expand knowledge of synonyms, antonyms, and different contexts for words. The game also promotes creativity, as players must think critically about the connections between different cards.
Skills developed: Vocabulary, creative thinking, context-based word usage, social interaction.
Why it’s great for language development:
PicWits! is a game that involves matching photos to humorous or descriptive phrases. Players must use their imagination and vocabulary to choose the best match for the prompt. The game enhances creativity, encourages thinking outside the box, and expands a child’s vocabulary in a fun, social setting.
Skills developed: Vocabulary, creative thinking, humor, descriptive language.
Why it’s great for language development:
Funglish is a team-based word game where players must guess words based on creative descriptions. The game emphasizes flexibility in language use, as players are encouraged to think of multiple ways to describe the same word. It’s a great game for practicing word choice, descriptive language, and the ability to convey complex ideas simply.
Skills developed: Descriptive language, word choice, communication skills, creative thinking.
Why it’s great for language development:
What Do You Meme? Family Edition is a fun and interactive game that involves matching captions to images. While it’s primarily a humorous game, it requires players to use descriptive language and think critically about how to best convey meaning or humor through words. This helps children practice vocabulary and understand the nuances of language.
Skills developed: Vocabulary, creativity, word association, humor.
Why it’s great for language development:
Bubble Talk is a creative game where players match photos with funny captions. This game encourages children to come up with their own descriptive language and to express humor and wit. It’s also a great way to practice sentence construction and expand vocabulary.
Skills developed: Sentence structure, vocabulary, creativity, humor.
Why it’s great for language development:
Illustory allows children to create their own illustrated storybooks, combining both writing and drawing. This hands-on approach to storytelling is fantastic for developing narrative skills, expanding vocabulary, and improving writing fluency. It’s a wonderful tool for children to practice sequencing and creativity, as they develop their own stories.
Skills developed: Storytelling, writing, sequencing, creativity.
Why it’s great for language development:
Money Bunch is an educational game that teaches children about money, counting, and math, but it also helps them practice communication and comprehension skills. As children learn to ask for and describe different amounts of money, they expand their vocabulary and practice numeracy alongside language development.
Skills developed: Vocabulary, numeracy, communication skills, social interaction.
Why it’s great for language development:
Ticket to Ride is a popular board game that involves strategy, geography, and social interaction. While it doesn’t focus directly on literacy, it promotes communication between players, encourages reading of destination cards, and enhances cognitive flexibility. The game also fosters cooperation and problem-solving, key components of developing social language skills.
Skills developed: Reading comprehension, social interaction, strategic thinking, vocabulary.
Why it’s great for language development:
Space Escape is a cooperative game that encourages teamwork and communication as players work together to solve problems and escape an alien planet. The game fosters collaboration, enhances verbal expression, and promotes strategic thinking, making it a great tool for building social language skills.
Skills developed: Communication, teamwork, problem-solving, strategy.
Why it’s great for language development:
Cauldron Quest is a fun and engaging fantasy game that involves players working together to defeat monsters and collect ingredients. It promotes verbal communication, story-building, and team-based strategy, all while offering plenty of opportunities for imaginative language use and collaboration.
Skills developed: Storytelling, creativity, collaboration, vocabulary.
Final Thoughts
These games offer more than just fun—they’re powerful tools for fostering speech, language, and literacy development. Whether you’re focusing on vocabulary, phonics, sentence construction, or creative storytelling, each game provides a unique learning experience. Incorporating these games into your routine can help children build a solid foundation in language skills, all while keeping playtime exciting and engaging.
So, next time you’re looking for a way to boost language and literacy skills, consider adding one of these games to your collection. You’ll be helping your children grow their vocabulary, improve their communication, and have a great time doing it!
The above recommendations may contain affiliate links, so if you buy through them I get a small commission (at no cost to you!). I only recommend things I love and have used in my practice so I know you will love them too!
