A Comprehensive List of

Excellent Adjectives for Kids

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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:

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Adjectives for Kids by Grade (US) or

Year (UK)

Grade 1
The 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 – 3
Alphabetising 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 – 6
Letters 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

Kids
There 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

Kids
Because 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.

Excellent Adjectives for Kids- A Comprehensive List (kidsmartapp.co.uk)