Games / Learning Games / Grammar Train / Guide
Grammar Train
A fox engineer runs a little railway where every car carries a word. Your child couples word cars into sentences, loads nouns and verbs onto the right freight cars, and picks the caboose that ends each sentence. When a train is done, the whole sentence is read aloud as it pulls away.
What your child learns
Grammar Train covers the language skills that show up on every Grade 1 to Grade 4 report card, using 178 short sentences we wrote for kids. There are four kinds of trains:
- Word order. The words of a sentence arrive as cars, and your child couples them in order to make a complete sentence (Common Core L.1.1j).
- Parts of speech. One word in a sentence is highlighted and your child loads it onto the noun, verb, adjective, adverb or pronoun car (L.1.1b, L.1.1d, L.1.1f, L.2.1e). Each answer comes with a short reason, which is the Grade 3 skill of explaining what a word does (L.3.1a).
- Capital letters. The sentence shows up all in lowercase, and your child taps every word that needs a capital: the first word, the word "I", names, days, months, holidays and places (L.1.2a, L.2.2a).
- End punctuation. Your child picks the caboose: a period for telling, a question mark for asking, or an exclamation point for a big feeling (L.1.2b).
How it works
Tap Play and the train pulls into the first station. Instructions and sentences are read aloud, and the speaker button reads them again, so newer readers can play. Words kids need to read are set in Andika, a typeface designed for early readers.
Every train is short, one sentence and a few taps. A station round is 6 trains (the junction stations have 7 or 8), and takes about three minutes.
Three lines, fifteen stations
| Line | Grade | Stations |
|---|---|---|
| Green Line | Grade 1 | Word order, nouns and verbs, capital letters, telling or asking, then a mixed junction |
| Blue Line | Grade 2 | Adjectives, longer sentences, big feelings (!), days, months and places, then a mixed junction |
| Gold Line | Grades 3 to 4 | Adverbs, pronouns, long sentences, capitals and marks, then the Grand Central finale |
Levels and how it adapts
Sentences that give your child trouble come back more often, and ones they know come back less. After three right in a row, word order sentences get a little longer, and after the game has to show an answer, they get shorter.
Mistakes get a hint that teaches. Tap the wrong word car and the game reads back the sentence so far and asks what comes next. Pick the wrong part of speech and it asks a question about the word, like "A verb is an action. Is this something you can do?" Tap a word that shouldn't be capitalized and it explains why, for example that "grandma" stays small after "his". After a second miss, the right answer glows with a short reason, and a similar question is added to the round. There's no timer and no losing.
Finishing a station opens the next one. The ages picker on the title screen opens the first Blue Line station right away for ages 6 to 8, and the first Blue and Gold Line stations for ages 8 to 11. Stars come from first-try answers: 90 percent for three stars, 60 percent for two.
Train cars, stickers and Today's Train
The first time your child finishes each station, a new collectible car joins the train, 15 in all, from the Apple Car to the Crown Car. Stickers for the shared Sticker Book come from the first train, finishing each line, some stations along the way, a first perfect trip and the daily challenge. Today's Train is 6 mixed questions, the same for everyone that day and matched to the age setting, with a streak counter for days in a row.
Tips for grown-ups
- Play noun hunt: name five things you can see, then add an adjective to each one ("the fuzzy rug").
- Act out verbs. One person says an action word and the other acts it out. Add an adverb for fun ("hop slowly").
- Read a cereal box or a street sign together and ask why each capital letter is there.
- Read a sentence two ways, once as telling and once as asking, and let your child decide which mark it needs.
Privacy and safety
There are no ads, accounts, chat or leaderboards, and we don't run analytics or tracking on our learning games. The game makes no outside requests, and every sentence in it is family friendly. Progress and collected cars are saved only on your device. It's free in the browser on a phone, tablet or computer.
Questions
What grade is Grammar Train for?
Grades 1 to 4. The Green Line fits Grade 1, the Blue Line fits Grade 2, and the Gold Line with adverbs and pronouns fits Grades 3 and 4.
Which parts of speech does it teach?
Nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs and pronouns. Each one is introduced at its own station before the mixed stations combine them.
Can kids who are still learning to read play?
Yes. Every instruction and sentence can be read aloud, and the finished sentence is read with each word highlighted.
Is there a timer?
No. Kids can take their time on every question.
Is Grammar Train free?
Yes. It's free with no ads and no purchases, and there's nothing to download.
