Word Games for the Family

Scrabble
You can't argue with a Scrabble. It's the crossword style board game that has been around for over 60 years. Players have seven lettered tiles available to make a word on the game board. Each letter has a value and your score is based on the sum of those values, plus any special squares, like double letter score or double word score. While Scrabble is suggested for children ages 8 and up, our children started playing at younger ages with the aid of a dictionary. In our home Scrabble is primarily an adult game; my husband and I spend many nights playing intense games of Scrabble.

Scrabble UpWords
UpWords is indeed similar to Scrabble, but players are not limited to just crossword style placement of words, you can build up too. Place a B on the C and an E on the A in CAT to make BET. My children find this to be a much easier game then Scrabble since they can rely on rhyming words. Scoring is easier as you only need to count up the number of tiles used to make your stack without having to compute tricky bonus spaces. UpWords is a good word game for children and adults to play together, although adults may find it a little boring to play as an adult only game.

Scrabble Slam!
Scrabble Slam combines Scrabble and UpWords into a card game. The game starts with a 4 letter word on the table and then players race to play one card at a time to make a new word. The first player to use all of their cards wins. Since the game is limited to 4 letter words and only requires a single letter change to make a new word, this makes it popular with my kids, and the fast pace makes it fun for the adults too.

Boggle
Instead of building your own words, with Boggle you are trying to find words in a 4 by 4 grid of lettered dice. Shake the dice and then start finding words where the letters are connected in a straight or diagonal line. You have 3 minutes to write down all of the words you can find but you only score a point for words that no one else found. Another 8 and up game, Boggle can be frustrating for kids who can find words, but cannot necessarily find unique words. We change the game with the kids to allow them to count any word they find in the grid for one point and then give them two points for writing down a work that no one else found.

What's Gnu
Finally, a word game for children ages 5-8. What's Gnu contains a set of cards each one with a letter printed on it and then space for two more letters. You spread the cards out on the table or floor and then take the two letters from the dispenser to complete a three letter word. The player to make the most words wins. While this is supposed to be a racing game, we find it better to takes turns with the kids in the suggested age range. This is a great game for new readers to practice making simple words but beware, you may not be able to make words on all of the cards depending on what letters are left and the end. My son finds that aspect frustrating. 

Words games are a fun way for children to practice emerging reading and spelling skills, but don't overlook that these games are fun for adults too!