Onomatopoeia sounds like it could be the name of a dinosaur .. or maybe a one-eyed crawly creature of some sort.  It’s a pretty cool word.  But what does it mean?

Broken down “onoma” means word name and “poeia” means to compose or make.

Onomatopoeia is defined as the “formation of words or names by imitation of natural sound.”  In other words, an Onomatopoeia is a word that makes the sound of what it means.

For instance, when you say “Splat,” it kind of  sounds like something just went splat.  My book, Boing went the Bouncy Baboon is full of Onomatopoeia, which is what makes it so much fun to read.

Here’s a fun little video explaining in simple terms what an Onomatopoeia is.  And I’ve also created three fun worksheets you can download and print so you can explore hands-on the concept of onomatopoeia with your little one(s).

I hope you enjoyed this short little video.  For more practice recognizing onomatopoeia words, download the free worksheets here: