Teaching kids to use “good words” in their writing is hard. It’s not always easy to find a good synonym for “red” but this activity should help broaden their diction horizons. Divide your class into 10 groups. Pass out one color synonym sheet and a thesaurus to each group. Instruct each group to find as many synonyms for their color as possible. Then have them draw a border around their sheet using the color they searched. Post these somewhere in the room for a few days so students can browse the synonyms.

Click here for the PDF: synonyms- color collection

This same idea can be done with common nouns and adjectives such as “big,” “said,” “like,” “fast,” etc. Here are some photos of this idea being used in a classroom…