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Arabic Reading Games

Arabic reading games are similar to other language reading games except for the difference in script and cultural traditions. Poetry, for example, is a beloved tradition in the Arab world, and reading/reciting poetry is consider art. Arabic reading games, apart from being entertaining, are educational opportunities for children to strengthen their reading skills and vocabulary. They are also useful for students studying the Arabic language who wish to strength or maintain their language skills. Teachers can also use these games as educational tools in the classroom.

Arabic Alphabet Games
- Arabic script differs from many other scripts in how it is written. The letters change their look four ways, depending on the position of the letter in the word. Many children and students learning the Arabic alphabet will need a lot of practice recognizing and reading the letters when they're connected together. Take five cubes and write letters of the Arabic alphabet on them. Have the students roll two or three cubes at once. They should write how the letters connect together to form a word, then read the word with different vowel placements. Teachers or supervisors can change the vowel placement rules depending on what vowels they would like the students to practice.
Arabic Story-Changing Games
- Story-changing games push players to draw on their reading skills more than writing skills. This game is for students or children who can read one-page Arabic stories. Find a short children's story and have the students read it out loud. Then together with the students, take out random parts of speech. Then take away the story from the participants. Ask the students to replace the words taken out with random parts of speech. Put the chosen words back in the story and then have the students read the new story out loud. The act-will placement of words is sure to create an amusing and random new story.
Arabic Poetry Reading
- Poetry writing and recitation are beloved traditions in the Arab world. Poetry in Arabic is slightly different than poetry in many other languages because of the ease in which end rhymes can be created. Arabic word endings are the same if they are the same gender, plural and/or conjugated in the same part of the sentence. For this game, find a level of Arabic poetry that the students can read. Hold a contest of the best dramatic reading of the poem. This will require the students to comprehend what they are reading and to practice reading the poem with ease. The student whose dramatic reading most fits with the content of the poem and who also reads the poem with ease wins.
Arabic Sight Words
- Make flash cards for Arabic sight words with the Arabic word on one side and a picture of the sight word on the other side. It might help the setup go faster if you use a computer to print the pictures. With a group of students, have a chalkboard or whiteboard or a lot of sheets of paper, and ask the students one by one to read a different sight word. Then test the students' comprehension of the sight word by asking them to draw what the word means on the board or piece of paper. This game is ideal for beginning Arabic students in elementary school.

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