Most of us recognize that play is an important way to learn all types of skills and knowledge. Play works as a way to learn for a couple of reasons. First, we are more motivated to do an activity if we are having fun doing it. Second, pleasurable activities get repeated and, therefore, give us more chances to practice the skill or piece of knowledge. And as the cliché says – practice makes perfect.

Word games are a great way to pick up new vocabulary and play with vocabulary that is already familiar. Each game focuses on a different set of skills related to learning words, so if enthusiasm wanes for one game, switching to another game can re-energize the learning process. All of the paperless games below can be played anywhere. They require no equipment whatsoever other than your “thinking cap”.

1. The Alphabet Game: (Ages 5 and up) This game can be played while in a house or riding in a car. Start with the first player. The player must find an object he can see that begins with the letter A. He names the object and now the play moves to player number two. This player must name an object she can see that begins with the letter B. Play continues through the alphabet and group of players. To vary the game, work backwards through the alphabet.

2. The Word Guessing Game: (Ages 6 and up) In this game the first player thinks of a word. We suggest starting with a four-lettered word (i.e. hope). She announces to the group of players how many letters the word has (in this example – “I’m thinking of a four letter word.”). Then the next player suggests a four-lettered word (i.e. made). The first player compares the suggested word to her word. She is looking for letters in her word that are exactly matched in position to her word (i.e. “hope” compared to “made” has the letter “e” in the exact position in both words). She announces “One Letter”. Now all players know that the word “made” shared one letter with the guess word. The next player will try to think of a word which will test which letter is an exact match. For example, this player may want to test if the letter “m” in the first position is the matching letter and so she might suggest the word “mint”. The first player will respond “No Letters”. Play continues until the players identify the guess word. The player to correctly identify the guess word thinks of the next guess word. It is important to state how many letters are in the guess word. Games using four- and five-lettered words work best.

3. Find the Letter: (Ages 4 and up) This game can help very young readers learn their alphabet. This is a good game for players riding in a car. Have the players look for the letters in alphabetical order. The letters might be on road signs, license plates, billboards, or shop windows. You may need to prompt them with “Can you find the letter A?” Repetition will build up their command of the alphabet and help them identify each letter. You can also use the alphabet song to jog their memories of the next letter.

4. A is for…: (Ages 6 and up) To begin, name a category for the words that will be used in the game (for example: animals, transportation, general, etc). Now the first player must name an object within the category that begins with the letter A (such as anaconda for the animal category, auto for the transportation category, or apple for the general category). The next player names an object beginning with the letter B and the players proceed in order through the alphabet. For the next game try a new category and allow a different person to start the game.

Playing with words can be a fun and rewarding way for your children to learn new words while reinforcing ones they already know. These games will help cement the alphabet in their minds. They will identify letters, learn the order of the alphabet, and practice spelling – all critical skills for reading. Let the games begin!!

Manchester United Football Club is an English football club, located at the Old Trafford stadium in Trafford, Greater Manchester, and arguably the most popular football club in the world, with over fifty million supporters across the world. Manchester United Football Club is a world-famous English football club, with a capacity of over 76,000 and the highest average gate in the league. Manchester United Football Club is perhaps the single thing for which the city of Manchester is most famous. The heritage of Manchester United football club is wonderful and most supporters have a real empathy to the club. Manchester has a tradition of excellence in sport. Manchester United Football Club is less than two miles from the University, first class cricket can be seen at Old Trafford, and Salford has one of the top Rugby League teams in the country, the celebrated Salford Reds.

Football

Since the late 1990s, the club has been one of the richest in the world, and until recently had the highest revenue of any football club for quite a few years running. Nearly overnight, English football re-invented itself as a glamorous sport with immense commercial appeal. The massive power and reach of television is turning football into one of the world’s most rewarding sports. The club is one of the most triumphant clubs in England, having won the FA Premier League/Football League 15 times, FA Cup eleven times and the European Cup/UEFA Champions League twice.

Cup

They also became the 1st English teams to participate in the European Cup, at the behest of the FA, who had denied Chelsea the same chance the prior season, and reached the semi-final, only to be knocked out by Real Madrid. Tragedy struck the next season, when the airplane transporting the team home from a European Cup match crashed on take-off at a refuelling stop in Munich, Germany. The plane skidded off the end of the runway, through a fence and into an unoccupied home. Despite the accident, they reached the FA Cup final again, where they lost to Bolton Wanderers. Manchester United have won silverware on a frequent basis throughout their proud and thriving history and on the domestic front have won the both the old First Division Championship and the Premier League, the old Second Division, and the FA Cup and League Cup. By the time Matt Busby left in 69 United had won 5 First Division titles, 2 FA Cup Finals and of course became the earliest English team to win the European Cup in 68.

Fans

When Manchester United visited Thailand in 1997, 1000s of United fans flocked to the national stadium in Bangkok to see their heroes for real; but the nearest a lot of The Clubs Asian supporters got to viewing their team is on national TV, where the whole English Premiership is promoted almost daily.

Up to 67,500 fans often pack into Old Trafford to see Manchester United play football. Like mentioned before, the biggest group of fans can be found in Asia. This has enabled Manchester United to make an interactive, on-line football society that will become the ultimate match and club experience for all its fans, on match days, during the build up, and then the after-match scrutiny. Maintaining their position could not have been done without the fans across the world that have turned into United-consumers in the meantime. Of course, when in Manchester, Manchester United football club is one of the 1st things that comes to mind for nearly everyone, so a visit to their stadium at Old Trafford is a frequent pilgrimage for fans.