Playing hangman helps build vocabulary skills.
Hangman is a simple game that needs at least two players to figure out words by guessing one letter at a time. The goal is to guess the hidden word, with each letter represented by a dash, before drawing the body of a person hanging. Although the game may seem slightly barbaric, most kids enjoy the game, and there are many educational variations.
Hangman Online
Kids can play many versions of hangman on a computer using the Internet. Whether at home or school, children can use various websites to play hangman and learn vocabulary words, new concepts and foreign languages. Kaboose.com offers a vocabulary building opportunity with varying difficulty levels, making the game appropriate for children of all ages. The premise of the Kaboose.com hangman game is guess the word before Broose Kaboose falls off his track and into the water. Points are gained when the words are guessed correctly.
Classic Hangman
Children can play the classic game of hangman with pencil and paper using themes for words, such as animals, continents or vocabulary words. Words can be written on small scraps of papers and selected by one player, and then the game can by played with other players. Classic hangman can be played in the classroom in the same manor, with each child taking a turn guessing a letter until the word is figured out, or by splitting the class in half to play against each other, which encourages teamwork and listening skills.
Hangman Review
Turn the game of hangman into a way to learn a foreign language or to review skills, such as the states that make up the United States of America. Parents can turn this simple game into a fun way to review information before a big test. In the classroom, spend the class before a test playing hangman using foreign language vocabulary words---this is a fun way to refresh the students' memories. Instead of drawing body parts for the hangman, the game could entail drawing different parts of the face or creating five stars before the person playing loses a turn.
Tags: before test, drawing body, foreign language, game hangman, guessing letter