Mad Lib Worksheets
Students determine the correct part of speech to use. They are great for reviewing grammar usage.
- Basic Cloze Worksheet - Complete the passage with your own words. A nice long cloze for you.
- A Day At The Zoo! - You take a crazy trip to the zoo! You can make it even crazier, if you can use your imagination for these words.
- At The Arcade! - Arcades that are fun, who ever heard of such a thing? Students like this one.
- At The Fun Park! - The amusement park can get evn more amusing with a couple of funny word choices.
- Big Mac Who? - You might have to explain what is meant be number of letters in the parenthesis to help them get started.
- Easter Mad Lib - Have students choose a few parts of speech and try to make a funny story inadvertently.
- In The Jungle! - This one has you dreaming up a lot of words! Definitely read these aloud for a chuckle or two.
- Mad Libs Online Game - A fun online game for you.
- Make Me A Video Game! - Get ready to be creative! This is our longest in far as writer input. Have some fun with it!
- My Day as an Author Mad Lib - Mad Libs are always a blast! In this one you write your best written work ever. You have no ink in your printer, so you print it on a body part.
- My Trip To Disney World! - This is a short one, but a great practice exercise. We expand a bit on the parts of speech that we target.
- The Great New Toy! - The coolest toy ever invented is now on the market. Tell us all about it!
- The First Day of School - One of your teachers is a creature! If that were not cool enough, they like when you throw various fruits at them!
- The Monkey King! - This is a real funny one! Who would have known that a movie could spark such a level of creativity.
What Are the Educational Benefits of Mad Libs?
Grammar is an essential part of any language. However, teaching grammar requires a lot of effort due to its technicalities and rules and because students often lose interest. Mad Libs online is a great way to overcome this obstacle.
Mad Libs story has become a part of classrooms and homes since its launch in 1958. Its popularity is the humor it brings to grammar learning and reinforcement.
What Are Mad Libs?
Mad Libs is a game that two or more people play by promoting each other to fill the blanks of a story. The parts of speech are the guidelines according to which students must fill the blanks. The player initially asks the second player to choose, for example, a collective noun, a plural pronoun, an adjective, etc. Then the story is presented to the player with their chosen words put in the blank. The player now has to read the story aloud. That's the fun part.
The story might sound nonsensical and humorous since the player has chosen words without knowing the context. Students have a great time playing Mad Libs, which reinforces the concept of parts of speech with fun.
Resources That Are Available
The Internet is filled with interactive websites with numerous sentences to play. There are various other resources available on Mad Libs for kids:
Applications: Available on Android and iOS, the Mad Libs application has all Mad Libs features. The interactive interface, original soundtracks, engaging stories, and sound effects make it an interactive experience for its users.
Books: In collaboration with Penguin Young Readers Group, Mad Libs has a treasure of books with a wide range of activities. Reading comprehension, basic grammar, vocabulary, etc., are some of the skills you'll find the content based on. Some original interactive books are also available on the Mad Libs application.
Printables: Some worksheets are available on Mad Libs online as downloadable PDFs at your disposal. You can integrate them wherever you find them in your lessons.
Websites: The Mad Libs online platform is a gift in itself. Challenge your friends and family via sharing on social media for a match using single-liners. Its interactive and colorful interface will also attract students to explore this fun site.
Replicating Mad Libs for Kids in Your Classroom
You won't always find the time to play Mad Libs in class. Or perhaps the topic you have chosen isn't available as a Mad Libs story. What can you do then?
Here are some ideas to bring Mad Libs for kids in your classroom but with your unique twist:
Climbing to Fifty
Divide students into groups of three. Ask them to write several nouns, adjectives, verbs, etc., on different note cards. Create a bank of those note cards and shuffle them. Then one player picks up the first card, reads the word, and then makes a sentence using the word accurately to score 5 points. Then it's the second player's turn. If the second player uses their word in the sentence of the first player, then they get 10 points—the first player to climb up to fifty wins.
Choose to Reuse
Get a book that's been lying around for a while but isn't picked up much. Highlight words that belong to different parts of speech. Make a list of hilarious and commonly used words category-wise. Now ask the students to replace the highlighted word with a word from the list. Once done, read the story out loud.
Trick-n-Treat
Some words belong to more than one part of speech. Trick your students using this concept. Ask them to pick up a notecard with a word written on it and ask them to make a sentence. The twist? Restrict them on the part of speech that the word should belong. For instance, the word 'read' is a verb but can also be used as a noun.
Verb: My father loves to read the newspaper at the breakfast table.
Noun: The Diary of a Wimpy Kid is a good read.
Why Using Mad Libs for Kids Is a Great Idea
The wide array of interactive stories available on Mad Libs online allows students to play in pairs and groups. Therefore, as they come together as a group, they have many takeaways, concept-wise and team-building-wise.
Concept Reinforcement: Parts of speech aren't just 8 or 9 categories of words. There are subtypes to these parts of speech that often create confusion. Playing Mad Libs online or having stories printed out from Mad Libs for kids assists them in practicing the areas where they need improvement.
Peer Learning: A kid might not be doing well in your class but is too afraid to ask questions. Such kids can also benefit from Mad Libs group sessions. Either they can learn by observing their peers or interacting with them to clear out their confusion.
Group Decision Making: Each blank can only have one answer. But there are several group members. Which word should they choose? Such confusions push students to come up with a decision they all mutually agree on. This creates a sense of synergy between them, making them decide what's in their collective interest.
Critical Thinking: To align on one answer, what strategy have they chosen? Did your students vote? Or did they come up with a consensus? Students develop numerous methods that they can use alternatively for all their blanks. They critically ponder upon what word would be the funniest to add.
Skills Development: Are your students shy of reading? A Mad Libs story is hilarious by nature. They can quickly and without fear read such stories aloud with people laughing because laughter in a Mad Libs story is inevitable. Shy ones won't be much self-conscious or embarrassed now.
Conclusion
Mad Libs online is a great tool to reinforce grammar, fun, and interaction. Group activities using Mad Libs for kids in your class can be a way for students to enhance other skills while having fun. The importance of teamwork they'd learn in those moments will stay with them forever.
Mix it up by using different resources from Mad Libs in your classroom to give students a flavor of other interactive ways available. Your students won't get bored of Mad Libs, and you won't have to chase a confusing concept for weeks.
Let students explore while you guide them so they can learn what you want to teach. Happy teaching!