Working on Language Using the "Codenames" Game

A photo of a 4 x 4 grid of "Codenames" cards on a table.

My family really enjoys the game "Codenames." In this game, you give single word clues to try to help your teammates guess which words match the clue.

One of my students is working on identifying the "main idea" of paragraphs, and I really like this game for helping develop language skills that help with this concept. To play the game, you have to both:

Think flexibly about what the words have in common (essentially the "main idea" of the group of words), and
Identify words that relate to a certain main idea.

Depending on the student, I might simplify the rules a bit by leaving some components of the game out, but the concept of the game is great for working on both language and social skills.

What's also great is that the game has a few different themes, so you might be able to find one that matches your child or student's interests.