My children introduced me to MadLibs. They could entertain themselves for HOURS on long car rides filling in the blanks with my answers, giggling between themselves as the saw the story unfold and barely able to read the story back to me when completed.

Though I may have wearied of this game LONG before they did, I recognized the obvious merits of the exercise.

What are MadLibs?

A MadLib begins with a story.  Typically one that is well-known.  Critical words in the story are left blank and the person playing the game must supply the missing words.  The critical detail is that the person supplying the "answers"  has no idea what the story is.

When you child plays with you:

• You child will read the type of word required, such as NOUN, VERB, ADJECTIVE.
• You will supply the type of word requested.
• Your child will write your answer in the blank and ask for the next key word.
• This process is repeated until all blanks are filled.
• It is then that your child will read you the story.

I have demonstrated the process below

The words required for my demonstration are:

Adjective
Name
Name
Verb
Plural Noun
Verb
Verb
Noun

The “story” is the nursery rhyme, Little Bo Peep.

1._________  2_______3.________ has 4.________ her 5. _______
And doesn't know where to 6.__________  them
Leave them alone
And they'll come home
7._______ their 8.___________ behind them.

To get real responses to this, I posed the problem on my eBay Blog.  Four people responded.  Here are their answers and the resulting stories.

Toyexpress
 

1. creative
2. Kathleen
3. Charles
4. love
5. cats
6. shopping
7. selling
8. toys

Creative Kathleen Charles Has loved her cats
And doesn't know where to go shopping for them
Leave them alone
And they'll come home
Sailing their toys behind them.

Sles05

1. beautiful
2. Emily
3. Steven
4. ran
5. boys
6. skip
7. jump
8. girl

Beautiful Emily Steven ran her boys
And doesn't know where to skip for them
Leave them alone
And they'll come home
Jumping their girls behind them.

Alberta_arts

1. smooth
2. Adam
3. Elizabeth
4. skipped
5. witches
6. beset
7. knelt
8. comfort

Smooth Adam Elizabeth skipped her witches
And doesn't know where to beset them
Leave them alone
And they'll come home
Kneeling their comfort behind them.

Luredaddy652

1. Frisky
2. Itty Bitty
3. Tweety
4. Meowed
5. cats
6. Eat
7. Sleeping
8. Beds

Frisky Itty Bitty Tweety has meowed her cats
And doesn't know where to eat them
Leave them alone
And they'll come home
Sleeping their beds behind them.

Now, I could have been more specific as to verb tense, etc. but you get the picture.

What does your child learn?

• He’s READING right?
• He’s differentiating between verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs, plural, singular, etc.
• He’s WRITING down your answers
• He’s CREATING a story
• And he’s having a blast!!

MadLIbs can be found in books wherever educational children’s books are found, and for adults, if you just want to have fun, there are lots of on-line MadLib sites.

Have fun, and don’t go crazy when you child keeps asking you to give him a verb!