One of the first things kids learn is how to say “mom” or “dad”. Learning English using the topic of family is a fun and fast way to impact a child’s memory and love of English. As they grow up, learning the family member’s names and relationships does not only help your little ones with their own family relationships, but it also creates healthier connections with teachers, friends, and other people in their lives.
To begin teaching family-themed English to children, parents should first teach children how to introduce themselves, how to say hello and how to greet and introduce themselves to others. A fun way to do this is with role-play using your child’s favourite dolls or stuffed animals. You can even use real family members and take turns introducing yourselves and each other.
Ask the toy or real person to introduce themself and say “hello”. Model a conversation between you and the toy or person first and then ask your child to try. “Hello.” “What’s your name?” “How are you?” Are the most important sentences to learn when teaching beginning conversation skills.
After that, children can learn about family topics such as naming family members, and how to introduce their family to others. The most important thing for parents to do is to create a comfortable, fun environment for children to enjoy learning and not feel forced to learn.
First, start with the easier family vocabulary words.
Easy Family Members Vocabulary for Kids
Mom
Dad
Brother
Sister
Grandpa
Grandma
You can teach these words using your real family members. Ask your child to practice naming the family members they see in English. You can also use toys, drawings, and pictures on your phone.
A fun activity is making a family tree with photos of your family. You can paint a picture of a tree and glue the pictures on the tree or make a tree using construction paper and glue. You can also ask your child to draw the member of their family using crayons, markers, or coloured pencils.
Once your child can name the easier family vocabulary in English, they can learn the more challenging vocabulary:
Aunt
Uncle
Cousin
If their great grandparents are still alive, they can also learn “great grandma” and “great-grandpa.” It is best to use pictures of your family or your actual family in real life to teach these words to help your child understand their connection to these people and what these words mean.
To practice speaking with your preschoolers in a more advanced way, you can teach them short sentences to help them introduce their families. For example:
“This is my family.”
“This is my mom.”
“This is my dad.”
“These are my parents.”
Just replace different family members in the introduction. If sentences are still too advanced for your child, that’s fine. The main goal should be to have them name their immediate family using English words. By using real people, pictures, and toys, you can make this a fun learning activity for your child!
To learn numbers in English for kids, you can download the Galaxy Kids app – the best English learning app for kids!