If you want to learn Marathi for kids at home, start with play. This page gathers seven free Marathi games: the मुळाक्षरे (mulakshare, alphabet), numbers from एक to शंभर, and picture words for animals, fruits, vegetables, colours and body parts. Every word is spoken aloud in Marathi and English, so a three-year-old who cannot read can still tap, listen and find. Grown-ups who speak Marathi but never learned to read it will find an English spelling for every word in the word lists.
Marathi is spoken by more than 80 million people in Maharashtra, Goa and Marathi families from Pune to Bay Area, London and Dubai. It is written in Devanagari, the same script as Hindi, with a few letters and sounds of its own. For a small child, though, Marathi starts with आई (aai, mother), बाबा (baba, father), पाणी (paani, water) and भात (bhaat, rice).
What is inside: seven Marathi games for kids
- Marathi alphabet for kids: 12 स्वर (swar, vowels) and 36 व्यंजने (vyanjane, consonants), from अ for अननस to ज्ञ.
- Numbers in Marathi: a 1 to 100 chart. Tap to hear एक, दोन, तीन, or press Count with me.
- Animals name in Marathi: 60 animals, from गाय (gaay, cow) to वाघ (vaagh, tiger).
- Fruits name in Marathi: 30 fruits, including आंबा, the pride of the Konkan.
- Vegetables name in Marathi: 30 vegetables from the भाजी मंडई (vegetable market).
- Colours in Marathi: 12 colours, from लाल to आकाशी.
- Body parts in Marathi: 30 words, from डोकं (doka, head) to पाऊल (paaul, foot).
Each game has three modes. Listen: tap a picture to hear the Marathi name, then the English. Find it: Golu, our glass marble friend, asks for a word in Marathi and your child taps the picture. Memory: find the pairs. The games never say "wrong". A wrong tap hears the name of what was tapped and the right picture glows. Every finished round drops a marble in the Goli Jar, and you can tap the jar to count marbles together, in Marathi of course.
Where to start: a Marathi plan by age
| Age | Start with | Realistic goal |
|---|---|---|
| 2-3 | Animals, fruits and body parts in Listen mode, on your lap | Understands 10-20 Marathi words, says a few like माऊ or भूभू |
| 3-4 | Colours; Find it with 2-3 choices; count 1 to 10 | Names everyday things, counts एक ते दहा |
| 4-5 (LKG) | Swar अ to अः; numbers to 20 | Recognises vowels and a few consonants |
| 5-6 (UKG, class 1) | All mulakshare, then barakhadi; numbers to 100 | Reads two- and three-letter words like घर, कमळ |
Speaking comes long before reading. A child who hears Marathi every day will learn the letters quickly later, so for the youngest, let the pictures and sounds do the work.
How to teach Marathi to kids at home
- Pick one Marathi time. Breakfast, bath or bedtime. Five to ten minutes, every day.
- Name real things. After tapping केळं (kela, banana) on screen, hand over a real one and say it again.
- Sing old favourites. चांदोबा चांदोबा भागलास का and ये रे ये रे पावसा have taught Marathi to generations.
- Tell a short goshta. A two-minute गोष्ट (story) at bedtime builds listening and new words.
- Stop while it is fun. End the game before your child gets tired, and come back tomorrow.
Let your child be the teacher. Ask "How do you say elephant in Marathi?" and wait for हत्ती. Being the expert is a big reward.
Marathi for kids growing up outside Maharashtra
Many families in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, New Jersey or Singapore say the same thing: the children understand Marathi but answer in English or Hindi. That is normal, and it is still a real start. Some ideas that help:
- Keep one grown-up speaking mostly Marathi. Calls with आजी (aaji) and आजोबा (aajoba) count.
- Use Marathi for warm moments and festivals: modaks at Ganeshotsav, the गुढी at Gudi Padwa, tilgul at Sankranti.
- Set the language button to Marathi first, English second, so your child hears Marathi before the easier word.
- Do not correct harshly. Repeat the Marathi word back happily: "Yes, मांजर! A cat!"
Children who also learn Hindi at school have a head start on reading, because the script is shared. Marathi adds ळ and some different spellings and sounds, which the Marathi alphabet page explains. Many Indian children grow up with three languages, and that is fine. If you have concerns about your child's speech, talk to your paediatrician; there is no need to drop Marathi.
A word on screen time
Short sessions with a grown-up beside the child work best. Play together, talk about what you see, then put the phone away and find the real thing. For children under two, real objects, picture books and your voice are better than any screen.
पालकांसाठी
आपल्या मुलाने मराठी बोलावी असं तुम्हाला वाटतं का? त्यासाठी रोज थोडा वेळ पुरेसा आहे. या खेळांमध्ये प्रत्येक शब्द मराठी आणि इंग्रजीत ऐकू येतो. चित्राला हात लावला की नाव ऐकू येतं.
आधी बोलणं, मग वाचन. घरातल्या वस्तूंची नावं मराठीत सांगा: पाणी, दूध, भात, चेंडू, मांजर. मूल चुकलं तरी हसत हसत योग्य शब्द पुन्हा सांगा. रागावू नका.
परदेशात राहणाऱ्या कुटुंबांसाठी: आजी-आजोबांशी मराठीत बोलू द्या. गणपती, गुढीपाडवा, संक्रांत या सणांना मराठी गाणी म्हणा. ही वेबसाइट पूर्णपणे मोफत आहे, नोंदणीची गरज नाही.
How to use this page at home
Say it, then find it
Play for a few minutes, then look for the same thing away from the screen: marathi words on the shelf, in the kitchen, on the way to school. A child learns a word properly when they meet it twice, once on the screen and once in their hand.
Ten minutes is enough
Short and happy beats long and tired. Stop while your child still wants more, and come back tomorrow: the same page on five short days teaches far more than one long sitting. Nothing here is scored, so there is no reason to push.
Use both languages
Tap the language button at the top to hear the words in your home language first and the second language after. Hearing the same picture named in two languages is one of the few things research agrees builds attention as well as vocabulary.
