Children's adjectives list
A Giant List of Adjectives to Describe Kids
ByLauren @ Simply-Well-Balanced
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Words are powerful. This is especially true when you consider the words that you choose to describe your child - or children you work with. Today we are sharing a huge list of adjectives about kids to increase self-confidence and esteem in children.
Adjectives About Kids: Using the Power of Words to Increase Confidence
What's Inside:
As a teacher and parent, I know first hand how true that quote is.
I have seen behaviors, attitudes and self-esteem completely transformed in my classroom just by carefully choosing words to describe kids in a positive light.
You see, if a child repeatedly hears someone describe them using positive words, eventually they start to believe what they are hearing.
Because I have seen how powerful words can be, I have become more intentional with the words I use to describe the behavior, actions and personalities of my own children - and I encourage you to do the same.
Adjectives are describing words and you can pretty much guarantee that the words kids grow up hearing are the same words they will end up using to describe themselves as adults.
How to Use Adjectives to Describe Kids
Adjectives about kids can be used in a variety of ways:
- As a parent trying to improve the self-esteem of your own child.
- As a teacher looking for descriptions to include in report cards or progress reports.
- As a coach or counselor trying to find words to describe the positive personality traits you see in the kids youre working with.
No matter why you are looking for adjectives to describe children, its helpful to understand why being as specific as possible is very important.
Oftentimes we get in the habit of using the same generic phrases like cute or smart on repeat.
When children hear these same terms repeated over and over they actually become meaningless.
Here are some tips on using adjectives to describe kids:
- Use phrases that are as unique and individualized as possible.
- Avoid focusing on appearance for compliments. You dont want a childs self-worth to be connected to the way they look.
- Consider characteristics that set them apart from others.
- Try to rephrase challenging aspects of their personality in a positive way that highlights how they can use them as strengths (ie instead of stubborn, describe them as determined).
- Use these words and phrases in everyday conversation so they frequently hear themselves being described using positive words.
- Write the words on post-it notes and leave them for your child to find in their room, on the bathroom mirror or inside their favorite book.
- Utilize them as part of a daily affirmation routine.
- Be genuine - kids can tell when youre not being authentic. Be sure that the words you use accurately describe your child and how you feel about them - even if its just some of the time.
- Have your child (or students) choose words from this list of adjectives for describing kids to make a poster or collage about themselves.
When used consistently these words will become a natural part of your daily routine and your child will become accustomed to hearing themselves in a positive light every day.
Now lets get on to the list!
150 Positive Adjectives About Kids
Adjectives to Describe a Child’s Strengths
- Determined
- Motivated
- Positive
- Trustworthy
- Artistic
- Brave
- Creative
- Diligent
- Friendly
- Forgiving
- Imaginative
- Inventive
- Motivated
- Observant
- Persistent
- Reliable
- Resourceful
- Understanding
- Unique
- Hard-working
- Involved
- Self-starting
- Flexible
- Organized
- Structured
- Efficient
- Adaptable
- Articulate
- Clever
- Persistent
- Leader
- Self-reliant
- Detail oriented
- Tough
- Open-minded
- Industrious
- Tenacious
- Communicative
- Talented
- Skilled
- Willing to try
- Knowledgeable
- Confident
- Ambitious
- Authentic
- Original
- Enterprising
- Fierce
- Gifted
- Believable
- Meticulous
Adjectives to Describe a Kid’s Personality
- Compassionate
- Loyal
- Adventurous
- Charming
- Faithful
- Cautious
- Polite
- Magnetic
- Dynamic
- Nurturing
- Cheerful
- Practical
- Selective
- Enchanting
- Selective
- Logical
- Endearing
- Understanding
- Entertaining
- Sensitive
- Aware
- Tolerant
- Spontaneous
- Charismatic
- Attentive
- Opinionated
- Courageous
- Approachable
- Affectionate
- Easy-going
- Accepting
- Effervescent
- Funny
- Honest
- Reflective
- Hopeful
- Methodical
- Inquisitive
- Talkative
- Devoted
- Steadfast
- Patient
- Contemplative
- Insightful
- Joyful
- Loving
- Optimistic
- Passionate
- Mindful
- Aware
- Calm
- Resilient
- Self-Confident
- Witty
- Independent
- Hilarious
- Philosophical
- Logical
- Realistic
- Unconventional
- Delightful
- Modest
Words to Describe A Child’s Behavior
- Consistent
- Responsible
- Kind
- Daring
- Considerate
- Energetic
- Fearless
- Generous
- Gentle
- Courteous
- Helpful
- Playful
- Fiery
- Social
- Spirited
- Zestful
- Thoughtful
- Confident
- Cooperative
- Spunky
- Reserved
- Exuberant
- Expressive
- Supportive
- Animated
- Focused
- Expressive
- Eager
- Intense
- Assertive
- Respectful
- Bold
- Gutsy
Conclusion
Overtime, your child will begin to integrate the words they hear you use to describe them into their own sense of self worth. Those words and phrases will become a part of their identity and form a foundation of self-confidence and strength.
Lauren @ Simply-Well-Balanced
Hi, I'm Lauren Tingley; a working, teacher-mom of two who tried to "do it all" and ended up losing myself in the process. Determined to find joy in modern motherhood I discovered simplifying was the answer. Now I share tips for fun family activities, minimalist homemaking and simple parenting advice on Simply Well Balanced for families looking to create more balance in their homes. My ideas and advice has been shared by Parents Magazine, Good Housekeeping and Women's First.Read more about me! Or follow me on Pinterest or Instagram
Excellent Adjectives for Kids- A Comprehensive List
Young children start learning about people and their surroundings from an early age, which is why teaching them adjectives is the perfect way to give them a solid foundation from which they can experience the world and build their vocabulary. In addition, by learning how to use descriptive adjectives to describe these experiences, kids start to feel more in control of their own world. The value of adjectives for kids comes from their ability to characterise a noun, giving more detailed and imaginative information about the object of discussion.
By adding the ability to visualise something more clearly, a reader can learn to convey feelings with more emotion and to describe exactly what you want using precise language. Do you want your child to expand their vocabulary by learning age-appropriate adjectives for kids for just 20 minutes every day? Then you should get the KidSmart app. KidSmart is more than just being one of those writing apps for kids, but a tried and tested educational tool geared towards critical thinking and self-learning through games and interactive activities.
Here’s a list of common adjectives for kids that you can start teaching based on their reading and interaction levels:
Contents
- 1 Adjectives for Kids by Grade (US) or Year (UK)
- 1. 1 Grade 1
- 1.2 Grade 2 – 3
- 2 Download practice worksheet packs
- 2.1 Grade 4 – 6
- 3 Classifying Adjectives: Grammar for Kids
- 4 How KidSmart Can Help Writing for Kids
- 5 Download Practice Packs
- 6 More Reading
Adjectives for Kids by Grade (US) or Year (UK)
Grade
1The following list of describing words are commonly used.
Colours: blue, green, purple, orange, black, white, pink, red, yellow
Size: big, small, short, tall, fat, thin
Sounds: loud, quiet
Shapes: round, square, oval, triangular
Numbers: one, two, few, many
Touch/Texture: rough, smooth, soft, hard
Weather: sunny, rainy, windy, dark, light, cloudy
Grade
2 – 3Alphabetising the common adjectives for kids can help them learn the describing words and their respective meanings more quickly and organise their learning process. This will also allow them to find adjectives that start with a specific letter more conveniently and explore other options more easily.
Letters A-C: angry, bumpy, busy, brave, crispy, cruel, cheerful, chilly
Letters D-H: dangerous, deep, dirty, dry, empty, equal, easy freezing, funny, fat, fluffy, furry, fuzzy, huge
Letters I-N: itchy, icy, juicy, kind, lazy, long, lumpy, left, large, mean, messy, naughty, new, nice
Letters O-R: oily, old, plump, pretty, proud, quick, ready, ripe, right
Letters S-Z: short, simple, slimy, sloppy, slow, spiky, spoiled, sticky, stiff, still, stinky, strong, swollen, thin, tiny, tricky, ugly, weak, wise, wrong, wet
Download practice worksheet packs
Download Adjectives for Grade 3 Kids Pack 1
Grade
4 – 6Letters A-C: able, adventurous, absurd, apologetic, aware, alert, amusing, ancient, annoyed, anxious, bitter, brilliant, bashful, beautiful, bulky, capable, cautious, creative, creepy, cruel, curly, challenging, charming, clever, compassionate, cosy, cranky
You can learn many more adjectives for kids that start with a or start with b.
Letters D – H: damp, daring, delicate, delicious, disrespectful, dreadful, dull, ecstatic, endless, enormous, entertaining, exhausted, fantastic, foolish, frightened, furious, fussy, gentle, gigantic, gorgeous, graceful
Take a deep dive into many more adjectives that begin with e.
Letters I – N: innocent, icky, intelligent, infinite, jaded, joyful, jolly, jumpy, kind-hearted, kindly, knowledgeable, likely, lousy, loyal, lucky, marvellous, naive, nervous, nimble
Familiarise yourself with many excellent adjectives for kids that start with j, with m and with n.
Letters O – S: optimistic, oval, petite, pleasant, polite, precise, prickly, salty, shocking, slick, slippery, sour, sparkling, straight, stubborn, stunning
Jump to the list of excellent adjectives for kids that start with r and that start with s.
Letters T – Z: temporary, terrified, timid, tricky, truthful, whimsical, young, yummy
Classifying Adjectives: Grammar for KidsThere are different kinds of descriptive adjectives in the English language, all of which will at some point or the other be a solid stepping stone towards improving grammar for kids as they get older and advance through the school system. After organising the words in alphabetical order, these descriptive adjectives have been further sorted into categories for greater understanding and can be quite useful when preparing for promotional exams, such as the CEM and 11+.
Proper Adjectives
These adjectives are derived from proper nouns and are used to describe something in terms of culture, nationality, or religious affiliation.
Some examples of proper adjectives include: African, Asian, British, French, Japanese, Latino, American, Australian, Catholic, Lutheran, Jewish
Food Adjectives
There are many words that can be used to conjure tasteful images when discussing food choices. With the proper adjective definition for kids, they can understand the difference between a “ tasty, cheesy, homemade, spaghetti with meatballs” and a “regular mass-produced fast food pasta,” Some examples include:
Sweets: sugary, chocolatey, syrupy, minty,
Fruits: ripe, sour, juicy, tart, acidic
Dairy: Cheesy, buttery, creamy
Beef: Chewy, peppery, spicy, marinated, lean, dry
Cereal: crunchy, soggy, flakey, nutty
Adjectives for Describing a Person
There are many terms that can be used to describe people in terms of their physical appearance and personality traits. It is important for your child to have these words in their written and spoken vocabulary because as they grow older, they will at some point, face a situation that requires them to describe someone. Some examples include:
Characteristics and Traits: clever, creative, kind, generous, considerate, flexible, mysterious
Personality traits: calm, humble, arrogant, proud, charismatic, mean
Physical Appearance: straight hair, cropped hair, blonde, brunette, lanky, dwarfish, plump, skinny
Learn many more adjectives to describe a person.
Happy Adjectives
These words are great for describing jubilant situations, helping children create strong descriptions for a party or celebration scenes like their last birthday or playdate.
Examples include: beaming, joyous, blissful, joyful, delightful, pleased, cheerful, jovial, jolly, glad, thrilled, elated, gleeful, sunny
Peaceful Adjectives
These words are used to describe a state of serenity. Some examples include: serene, calm, harmonious, peaceful, nonviolent, quiet, undisturbed, still, soothing, tranquil, relaxing, restful
Sporty Adjectives
Many school curricula include a variety of sporting events as part of their physical education activities, so your children have most likely come across these types of adjectives.
Examples include: accurate, active, agile, athletic, frenetic, skilful, speedy, swift, slick,
Adjectives to Describe a Place
These descriptive words can serve as a springboard for the new territory that your child visits or reads about. By learning the right adjectives to describe a location, they become even more interested in learning more about the world outside of their immediate surroundings.
Some examples include: gigantic, grassy, exotic near, far, tidy, spacious, spooky, smelly, lively
How KidSmart Can Help Writing for KidsBecause descriptive adjectives are so common in everyday conversations and learning materials, learning more about them is vital to creating and speaking grammatically correct sentences. KidSmart can help achieve this through its array of gamification strategies and activities that are designed for
- Progressive Grammar – The app follows progressive development methodology and introduces new concepts based on the level of understanding specific to your child.
- Spelling – Since KidSmart is geared towards the UK curriculum, it presents words that are relevant for the child’s year and tests them multiple times to assess their confidence level. It then adjusts the difficulty level automatically based on the responses.
- Vocabulary Building – As your kids progress, new words are introduced with meaning and usage examples. They also have access to the Oxford Dictionary at any time.
Download Practice Packs
Download Adjectives for Grade 3 Kids Pack 1
More Reading
Adjectives with S
What’s an adjective?
BBC: What are adjectives for year 2-3?
Children's Descriptive Adjective List
Children's Descriptive Adjective List can help students understand this part of speech and improve their writing. Describing words for children should focus on adjectives that children have heard or words that are easy for them to pronounce and spell.
What are descriptive adjectives and words?
Words that describe people, places, and things, or nouns, are called adjectives. You can remember this by thinking, "the adjective adds something."
- A descriptive adjective is one of the three main types of adjectives.
- Descriptive adjectives or descriptive words give detailed information about a subject.
- Descriptive adjectives can help you understand what something looks like, how many it is, what size it is, or what it's made of.
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Examples of descriptive adjectives for children
Having an extensive list of descriptive adjectives handy can help children improve their vocabulary. You can look at the list of adjectives to see how some describe the words and how others tell you different details about the noun.
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Appearance adjectives
If you need an adjective to describe a child or adult, you can use words that describe their appearance, size, or age in detail. Whenever possible, try to use positive words that describe the person.
Adjectives to describe emotions and feelings
Children have a lot of emotions and they often have very big feelings. Different emotion words can help you express exactly how you feel.