Pack A Punch With These Primary Punctuation Games

Passion for punctuation – it really can exist!

And it starts with you, of course.

Standing at the whiteboard, it may not seem like the most thrilling lesson you’ve ever taught (remember when you studied tadpoles in the school pond? That was wild!).

Alas, your own bias towards more colourful topics can’t creep to the surface like a frog under the lilypads.

Getting to grips with punctuation often involves a lot of correction, which nobody – teacher or pupil – particularly relishes. However, help is at hand!

We’ve put together our five favourite punctuation tasks, to help everyone in the class find some fun amongst the full-stops.

1. Sentence Jumbles

Correct punctuation just makes sense – but to understand why it’s so important, you need to see what happens when it all goes to pot.

Sentences with small (but critical!) errors won’t just make the class giggle… It’ll ensure that the importance of proper punctuation is understood.

After all, there’s a big difference between “Help! A thief!” and “Help a thief!”.

2. Smart Art

Had to forego some of your art lessons in favour of a little extra literacy? They can sometimes lend themselves to each other quite nicely!

Try creating some big pictures of punctuation marks and decorate them with some examples; the sentences should be correct, but you can dress them up as creatively as you like. It’ll make for an excellent wall display, too.

3. Sentence Switch-Up

Write a sentence on the board and put some punctuation cut-outs in a feely bag. Can the children change the sentence with the punctuation mark they pull?

“I love my teacher”, “I love my teacher?” and “I love my teacher!” are all amongst the possibilities…!

4. Super Speech Marks

Try creating a worksheet with images of people ‘in conversation’.

A mum on her phone, two friends kicking a football, a nurse with their patient… what might they be saying?

The class should, of course, use speech marks to frame each sentence - but can they add in at least one other punctuation mark, for exclamations and questions?

If you’re feeling particularly adventurous, you could even create worksheets with pictures of the class having fun… you might find that the dialogue they choose is somewhat more entertaining!

5. Punctuation Race

A great game for tired-out Friday afternoons, invite the children to stand in the centre of the room. They’ll find that a large question mark is pinned to one wall in the classroom, with an exclamation mark on the opposite wall (maybe you could even use the ‘Smart Art’ that they created?).

Read a sentence aloud, and the race is on… Who can get to the correct punctuation mark first?!

Feeling inspired? With Mighty Writer, there’s even more punctuation fun to be had!