A board game can be just the remedy to bust kids’ boredom from staying inside all winter. So turn off the Wii, put down the PlayStation and gather the family for an old-fashioned game night. Here are some inventive word games you can try out.
See if you can assemble sentences from random words in You’ve Been Sentenced! by Wilmington, DE-based McNeill Designs for Brighter Minds. Earn points for proper grammar and try to use tougher words to increase your score, then justify your silly sentence to the rest of the players. A portion of the proceeds of each game are donated to Success Won’t Wait, a Wilmington organization that provides literacy programs to children. Ages 8 & up. $24.95.
If Sentenced! is a grammar lesson, then Word on the Street Junior by Out of the Box Publishing is good practice in vocabulary and spelling. First, brainstorm words that fit a category (“something people collect”). Then take the letters of your favorite word you’ve thought up (C, O, I, N, and S in your answer “coins”) off the game board, which looks like a road. Get the most letters on your side of the street to win. Play as a pair or divide into teams. Ages 8 & up. $19.99.
No bag of tiles, hourglass timer or score sheet is needed for SCRABBLE Flash, a fast-paced electronic version of the classic word game by Hasbro Games. Just move around the five “smart” battery-operated tiles on a table to play. The computer inside recognizes when you’ve made a word, and also times your turn and keeps score. Ages 8 & up. $29.99.
Stephanie Halinski is calendar editor and toy/product coordinator of MetroKids.
