Whilst the internet seems to have the answer to just about everything these days it’s still vital that children and young people have the necessary skills to use more traditional reference sources …. which includes a good ole’ fashioned dictionary! Our Dictionary Quiz Questions for Kids listed below gives parents and teachers a set of word-based challenges to test children’s dictionary skills and also improve upon them. Depending on circumstances and class sizes the dictionary quiz questions could be tackled by individuals or by small groups working together. An extra challenge could include going against the clock …. or seeing which group can be the quickest to provide an answer.
This type of quiz is best carried out with a ‘substantial’ dictionary rather than a pocket-sized kids’ dictionary which will only have a limited number of words and will probably make the exercise too simplistic. Parents and teachers should also thoroughly check that the dictionary being used by the children has sufficient content and scope to fulfil the requirements of each of the questions; if not, the dictionary quiz questions will need to be modified to suit. Fingers at the ready ….. GO!
Question 1: Find two dictionary words that begin with adm…….
Question 2: Find any two words that fall between ‘black’ and ‘blank’.
Question 3: Find two words that begin with a ‘z’ and end with an ‘o.
Question 4: Find three words that begin with a ‘q’ and have a total of 7 letters.
Question 5: Find two words that begin with trou…..
Question 6: Find any three dictionary words that begin with the letter ‘x’.
Question 7: Find a word that begins with wrin…..
Question 8: Find five words beginning with ‘g’ that have just three letters.
Question 9: Find any two words that fall between ‘moon’ and ‘morning’.
Question 10: Find two words that begin with the letters gh……
Answers for the dictionary quiz questions will – of course – vary depending on the publication itself and the choice that kids make. Nevertheless here’s some ‘sample’ answers for guidance …..
Answer 1: Examples include admire, admit, admiral and admonish.
Answer 2: Examples include blade, bladder and blame.
Answer 3: Examples include zoo and zero.
Answer 4: Examples include quality, qualify, quarter and quicken.
Answer 5: Examples include trousers, trouble, trout and trough.
Answer 6: Examples include xenon, x-ray, xylophone and xylem.
Answer 7: Examples include wrinkle and wring.
Answer 8: Examples include gap, gem, gag, gas, get, got, gut and gum.
Answer 9: Examples include moor, mop, moral and more.
Answer 10: Examples include ghastly, gherkin and ghost.
Another quick and easy way to conjure up some dictionary quiz questions for kids is to ask them a series of questions along the line of “Which word comes immediately after [……….] in the dictionary?” or “Which two words are either side of […………..] in the dictionary?”. For the most amount of fun this is best carried out as a quick-fire quiz where everybody has an identical dictionary and the first person to find the answer puts their hand up. Or just shouts the answer out! You may need to have a couple of seconds ‘handicap’ for the faster, brighter or older kids if they keep beating everyone else to the answers.