I completely adore word games. Word search, scrabble, Words With Friends, and so many more. When I recently went on air to discuss toys with an educational twist and shared a couple but didn’t get a chance to talk about all the fun word games available this season. Check out these unique and fun word games that encourage not only family togetherness, but language skills development.
Word Games for Preschoolers
PairsinPears by Bananagrams for ages 3 and up. I love the tactile and visual “suits” of letters…the different designs of the letters of the tiles. In the youngest age groups these tiles can be used as a simple letter recognition, memory game, but the game can turn into a really fun rummi-meets-scrabble word game too. Comes in a really cool pear-shaped zipper pouch. Fun!
Play ‘N Read Storybook Butterfly by PlayWOW for ages 3 months and up. An adorable, durable butterfly that has storybook wings infants will love as a first book. I love that the wings are an easy-to-clean surface but aren’t a paper board book. The lift-up flaps are fabric and are sewn into place! Brilliant! No more chubby hands ripping the peek-a-boo pictures off the book.
First Builders MegaBloks Build N Learn Alphabet for ages 12 months and up. A fabulous way to introduce an educational twist on a class building block for young kids, this set is perfect for introducing letter sounds and shapes. I love the sticker pictures that coordinate with the blocks so children can practice building simple sight words such as ‘cat’ and ‘bear’. So cute! We got one of these and one of the 1-2-3 packs for our boys.
Word Games for School Age
Pathwords Jr. by Thinkfun for ages 6 and up. An introduction to word searches, which my own kids are just now discovering with joy and delight. This portable version uses tactile colors and shapes in addition to the traditional letters to keep kids motivated and encouraged. Easy to take on a car trip or pack in a fun-pack for waiting rooms, restaurants, or other antsy-children-occasions.
Appleletters by Bananagrams for ages 5 and up. Appleletters is a fun word game with a cute apple pouch to hold the letters. I have to say, my kids adore the apple letter pouch although it is a tight squeeze to get them all inside. Appleletters is similar in playstyle to dominos but use letters to create words. I like the fact that unlike scrabble or other word games, Appleletters focuses only on starting and ending letters, making it more accessible for younger ages to play.
Word Bits by Simply Fun for ages 8 and up – I absolutely love this fast-paced vocabulary game for kids. Not your typical word game play, this game focuses on vocabulary, sound recognition, and word skills. I think it ways great game for kids who may not be strong readers yet and would feel discouraged at some of twot other word game options out there. Dice play and word game combined makes it super fun and creatively designed.
Word Games for Highschoolers and Families
Words With Friends for ages 13 and up – I love how Hasbro turned the popular app game into an offline game perfect for family fun nights, get-togethers with friends, and just having a good time with the electronic devices. Scrabble-esque game play means that teens and adults are enjoying classic fun word games with a modern twist that makes it more familiar for playing.
Taboo for ages 16 and up – One of my family’s favorite games, this word game doesn’t involve letters and play that way, but rather the words are spoken aloud. Do not say the words that are ‘taboo’ but you have to provide clues for your teammates to guess the correct word! Fast paced, timed, and requires teams so it’s perfect for a large gathering. In our family we like to play boys against girls but it can cause some interesting family gatherings so beware!
Disclosure – Some of these items were sent to me for review purposes and some of them we’ve purchased through the years. Some of these links may include affiliate links which allows us to continue bringing you fun and informative articles on Untrained Housewife.
What are YOUR favorite word games?
