Children who develop a rich vocabulary tend to be deeper thinkers, express themselves better and read more.

Here are a few games you can play with your children that will help boost their vocabulary.

WORDS WITHIN A WORD

Write out a long word on a piece of paper or a white board, if you have one. Set a timer for 3-5 minutes and challenge kids to come up with as many smaller words as they can using only the letters in the designated word.For example, if the word is "onomatopoeia": poem, name, top, pot, ate, etc.

THE MINISTER'S CAT

You can play this game with 2 or more players and it's great for learning new words! The first person starts off by describing the minister's cat with an adjective that begins with the letter "A." For example, "The minister's cat is an angry cat." The next player uses an adjective with the first letter "B," and so on through the alphabet. "The minister's cat is a bulbous cat." "The minister's cat is a cantankerous cat."

VARIATION: The Minister's Cat is also a memory game. Players must remember all the adjectives in order as they are added to the game. Using the above example, the second player would say, "The minister's cat is an angry, bulbous cat." The third, "The minister's cat is an angry, bulbous, cantankerous cat."

HUMAN THESAURUS

Choose a simple word like "beautiful." Think of as many synonyms as you can. If playing with others, you can set a timer and trade off with different words, or write words down and see who can come up with the most. If you are in the car you could go around in a circle saying a word that means the same as beautiful and the person who can't say a word is out - Whoever is left is the winner.