About Opposite Words Game
Opposites are one of the most efficient ways to build vocabulary, because each pair teaches two words at once and gives each one a meaning by contrast. A child learns what 'shallow' means faster by holding it against 'deep' than by hearing a definition. This game starts with pairs a child can picture and moves toward ones they have to think about.
What this game teaches
- Antonym pairs for everyday adjectives such as hot and cold
- Opposites for verbs and directions, not only descriptive words
- Distinguishing an opposite from a merely different word
- Abstract opposites where no picture is available
- Vocabulary breadth through contrast
How to play
- A word appears on screen.
- Four possible opposites are offered below it.
- Tap the correct one.
- Five questions complete a level, across twenty levels of increasing abstraction.
Before you start
A child should be reading simple words independently. The early levels use concrete pairs like big and small; the later ones assume a wider vocabulary.
For teachers
The wrong options are deliberately near-misses - synonyms of the target word, or words from the same category - so a child cannot succeed by elimination alone. When a child chooses a synonym instead of an antonym, that is worth a conversation: they have understood the topic and reversed the instruction.
For parents
Play the same game away from the screen while walking or waiting. 'I say up, you say...' costs nothing and does the same work.
Related games
- Animals Spin Wheel — Class 1-3
- Birds Spin Wheel — Class 1-3
- Picture and Sound Quiz — Class 1-4