Possessive nouns are tough for many young children to learn because there are so many different ways to express ownership through language. Challenge your children to work with possessive nouns through a variety of activities. Provide the children with practices that ask them to think about possessive noun uses and then challenge you children to actually use the information they learn.

Possessive Song
A quickly assembled song is catchy, enjoyable and educational when you word it properly. Create a song for your students that uses possessive nouns for individuals. For example, one of your lyrics could include a proper noun such as, “Susan’s dog barked all night long.” Then you can switch up the lyrics to include non-proper possessive nouns. For example, another lyric could be, “The dog’s barking echoed through the streets.” Try to create a rhyme scheme for the song you believe will stick with the children and help make learning about the nouns enjoyable.

Work Sheets
Work sheets, while tame compared to some of the other classroom activities available for teaching possessive nouns, are a useful tool in the education system. Create a work sheet that challenges students to choose the right possessive noun for your scenario. For example, write a list of sentences with a blank word in place of a possessive noun. Provide a list of possessive nouns below the sentences. Ask the students to choose the possessive noun from the list below that best completes the sentence above.

Open Class Examples
When you find that your students learn best from live demonstrations, ask a small group of students to stand at the front of the class. Write samples of sentences that require possessive nouns on the board. Intentionally write the incorrect possessive noun on the board. Ask your students to correct the sentences on the board for the entire class to see. Have the students explain the changes they made to the sentences to better illustrate it for the other students.

The Possession Game
Sometimes it’s not enough for students to hear the words to understand the idea of a possessive noun. The possession game gives children the visual aid they need to fully understand possessive nouns. Stand the students in a circle and hand them an assortment of items. Have the children pass the items around the circle. When the students pass the items, they should say the item belongs to the person they pass. For example, one student should say, “This is Susan’s ball now.”