Choose five vocabulary words at a time and write them on index cards. Create three flashcards for each word, so 15 total. Write the definitions of the words on to separate index cards. Prepare three of each definition so there are matching amounts of cards. Shuffle all the cards and spread them out face down on a table. Have a few students play at each table. Each child will take a turn flipping over two cards. If the cards flipped over are a vocabulary word and its matching definition, the child can keep the two cards and go again. If the word and the definition don't match, the student must turn them back over where he found them and he forfeits his turn. The game is challenging in that it exercises both the remembering of the locations of the different cards as well as the definitions of the vocabulary words.
Write the vocabulary words as well as their definitions on index cards. Shuffle the cards and pass out Bingo cards to the students who have blocks filled with the different vocabulary words. Choose a card and read the definition. The child must be able to recognize which word on his card matches the definition and mark it. The first child to mark a line on his bingo card wins the game.
Provide the students each with a stack of index cards of vocabulary words as well as a variety of other words as well. Ask the students to construct as many sentences as they can within 10 minutes only using the words they have on the cards. At the end of the 10 minutes, count how many sentences each student successfully constructed. Award a prize to the student with the most. This activity forces the child to use the different vocabulary words in a sentence, and likewise absorb their definition.
Coordinate a field trip and establish a list of vocabulary words associated with the trip. Write the vocabulary words on index cards and distribute them to the students. While on the field trip, instruct the students to find as many of the vocabulary words as they can and draw a picture of what they see. For example, if the field trip is to a zoo, some of the vocabulary words could be elephant, zoo keeper, platform, aquarium and entrance. Award the students who successfully find and draw all the vocabulary words.