Ten words, one code, and a conversation nobody else can follow.
For ages7y - 12y
Time available40 min
Prep1 min
Mess
Noise
YouThey need to play alone
A slow, absorbing project for older children that costs nothing and keeps going for days.
What you need
paper
pen
How to do it
Choose ten words you use constantly: yes, no, hungry, boring, mum, home.
Invent a new word for each and write the dictionary down.
Agree one rule that applies to all of them, such as every word ends in an o sound.
Use only the new words for the next ten minutes.
Add five words a day and see how far you get.
Most activity lists ignore the things that actually decide it
Inventing a consistent rule and then applying it is, in miniature, exactly what grammar is. Children who find grammar lessons meaningless often grasp the idea immediately when it is their own system being broken.
Adapting by age
6 to 7 yearsFive words, and make them silly rather than systematic.
11 to 12 yearsAdd a writing system with its own symbols.