Fun Activities For Teaching About Adjectives

Hey there! Will you be teaching about adjectives soon? Need some fun and engaging activities to help your first, second, or third graders learn all about adjectives?

Teaching about adjectives doesn’t have to be boring – in fact, it can be really fun! Kids are generally full of enthusiasm and energy, so why not harness that with these fun activities? They’ll cover the basics of adjectives, comparative and superlative adjectives, as well as adjectives vs. adverbs. 

Today, I’m sharing engaging adjective activities, games, printables, and even read-aloud ideas – let’s get started!

Activities For Teaching About Adjectives

Your kiddos probably use adjectives all the time without even knowing what an adjective is. Adjectives are describing words that answer questions like which one, how many, how much? They describe the color, size, texture, amount, and shape of nouns.

Adjectives are like the spice that adds flavor to the dish of language. Without them, sentences can become bland and dull. That’s why it’s crucial to teach our students about these descriptive words. But don’t worry; it doesn’t have to be a snooze-fest!

Give these adjectives activities a go! Your students will be picking up on adjectives in no time!

• Pop Popcorn – Gather your class around an air popper. Ask them to watch, listen, and smell as the popcorn pops. Then, pass out some popcorn to eat and fill out an anchor chart together using adjectives to describe the popcorn.
• Make Mystery Bags – Give each student a small brown paper bag to put a small object in. Give them an adjective prompt sheet that asks questions about their object, like what color is it or what does it feel like? Each kid reads their answers to a partner who tries to guess what is in the bag without opening the bag.
• Create Crazy Hair Poetry – Use crayons and liquid watercolors to paint a portrait of a person with crazy colorful hair. Cut out adjectives from magazines or newspapers that describe the hair and glue them onto the portrait or add a poem instead.
• Describe A Picture – Pass out interesting pictures. Have small groups of students work together to brainstorm adjectives that describe the picture. Use sticky notes to add the adjectives to the pictures. Then, add all of the adjectives together onto an anchor chart. Remove and discuss any words that aren’t adjectives.

Adjective Activities For Comparative And Superlative Adjectives

Once your students have a grasp of what is and isn’t an adjective, it’s time to move into comparative and superlative adjectives.

Comparative Adjectives – Comparative adjectives are words that compare two nouns or pronouns. Most of the time, they end in “er” or are paired with the words “more” or “less.”

Superlative Adjectives – Superlative adjectives are words that describe a noun or pronoun as having the most or least of a trait. They usually end in “est” or are paired with the words “most” or “least.”

Games and interactive activities are great for teaching comparative and superlative adjectives. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

• Make A Flip Book – A foldable flip book is a great way to introduce the definitions of adjectives, comparative adjectives, and superlative adjectives. Plus, students can add examples of each and refer back to it as a reference tool.
• Adjectives Race – Grab a stack of index cards. Write an adjective on each card. Split the cards into two piles. Divide your class in half and have them race to write the comparative and superlative form of each adjective on the back of the index cards. 
• Write The Room – Post cards around the classroom. Students wander the room looking for each numbered card. They read the word on the card and record whether it is a comparative or superlative adjective on the recording sheet.
• Interactive Worksheets – Get in some paper and pencil practice with interactive worksheets like spin-a-word pages and cut-and-paste word sorts.
• Board Game – Pick a card, read the sentence, and identify the bold word as a comparative or superlative adjective. Then, roll a die and move around the board.

Teaching About Adjectives Versus Adverbs

It’s pretty common for kids to get mixed up between adjectives and adverbs. That’s why it’s important to specifically teach the difference. Adjectives describe nouns and pronouns. Adverbs describe verbs as well as adjectives and adverbs.

Here are some fun activities to help your students learn to distinguish between adjectives and adverbs.

• Adjectives And Adverbs Flip Book – Introduce adverbs and explain the difference between adjectives and adverbs. Brainstorm examples of each and add them to the flip book to use as a reference tool.
• Adjectives and Adverbs Charades – Give each student an adjective or adverb to act out. Examples might be happy, sad, angry, quickly, slowly, or stinky. The student acting tells the class if they are acting out an adjective or an adverb before acting out their word. The class tries to guess the word. If your class needs support with this game, add a word bank on the whiteboard.
• Color By The Part Of Speech  – Instead of coloring by numbers, color by the part of speech to complete a coloring page. 
• Word Detective – Give each student a page to write on and have them look for examples of adjectives and adverbs inside of books, in magazines, or on the classroom walls. 
• Craftivity – Create a hot air balloon craftivity and fill the hot air balloon with examples of adjectives and adverbs. 

Books About Adjectives

Are you looking for picture books to pair with your adjective activities? These books about adjectives are engaging and fun. They’re perfect to read aloud!

• Hairy, Scary, Ordinary: What Is An Adjective?
• Quirky, Jerky, Extra Perky: More About Adjectives
• A Is For Angry: An Animal And Adjectives Alphabet
• Many Lucious Lollipops
• If You Were An Adjective
• Breezier, Cheesier, Newest, And Bluest: What Are Comparatives And Superlatives?

Want The Adjectives Activities From This Post?

The adjective teaching printables featured in this blog post are available in my shop. You can check them out below.

Looking For The Adjective Anchor Charts?

Anchor charts are a great tool for introducing new topics. Plus, they make helpful reference tools to refer back to after a lesson. 

You can grab a free copy of these adjective anchor charts below. Enter your email, and I’ll send the printables straight to your inbox. (Tip – Your personal email is best since many school districts block outside attachments.)