Preschoolers enjoy silly activities and games, especially when it comes to stories. Storytelling is an activity that will help to teach vocabulary and sentence structure. Have your preschoolers sit in a circle and begin a story. Start with a main character and a location. Describe what is happening in a few sentences and pass a bean bag or a small ball to the preschooler sitting beside you. Ask him to add a few sentences to contribute to the story. Then, he can pass the bean bag to the preschooler sitting beside him. More likely than not, the story will become silly and nonsensical, but it is an effective way to help your preschoolers learn language skills.
Teach your preschooler about sentence structure by creating a game, since most preschoolers can't read at this time. Draw pictures on index cards of adverbs, adjectives, nouns and verbs. Use these cards to make a funny sentence. For example, one sentence might depict "The purple frog ate a pizza." The possibilities are endless, and your preschooler is sure to have a blast while learning at the same time.
Teach your preschooler about reading comprehension by inviting her to play the role of a detective. Read a short, simple story aloud and instruct your preschooler to listen carefully to the characters, the plot and the setting. Once you finish the story, ask her questions about various components including who the main character was, what was he doing and in what way did he solve the problem. Not only will your preschooler develop reading comprehension skills, but she will also learn what makes a good story and what to pay attention to in future readings.
Rhymes are way for preschoolers to recognize patterns of speech. Purchase a set of rhyming flash cards or create your own on small index cards. Spread them out face down on a tabletop and play a memory matching game. Instruct your preschooler to flip over two cards at a time to make a matching pair that rhymes. Once a pair is made, remove it from the tabletop. The game continues until there are no more cards left.
If your preschoolers are more interested in learning interactively, download free computer games to teach them about language (see Resources). Starfall.com is an easily-navigated site and offers a section based on storytelling and phonics. NickJr.com is a popular site, as it bases its lessons off of favorite characters such as Dora the Explorer, the Backyardigans and Spongebob Squarepants. PBSKids.org also takes this route, and has sections based on cartoons, as well.