Words, Word Play, and Grammar

In Quiddler – the SHORT word game – players get letter cards with which they’re challenged to spell words, from tiny two-letter words up to a max of ten.  For ages 7 and up.

Play Quiddler online here.

In Boggle, players shake up letter cubes onto a grid, then try to find the most words within a short amount of time. For ages 8 and up.

Play Boggle online.

Bananagrams consists of 144 letter tiles zipped into a banana-shaped pouch – the trick is to build crossword grids and use up all your letter tiles first. For ages 8 and up.

In Dabble, players race to spell five words using their twenty letter tiles – first person to do it wins. For ages 8 and up.

Scrabble has been around since the 1930s: a classic crossword board game in which players build words using letter tiles (and winning huge points if they manage to land a Z, Q, or J on a triple-letter square). For ages 8 and up.

See here for Scrabble online.

Try Scrabble in a foreign language.

Scrabble in the movies! Word Wars (2004) is a look at the world of competitive Scrabble players. Not rated.

In Password, a word association game, players do their best to guess the secret password from their partner’s one-word clues. For ages 12 and up.

The game of Doublets or Word Ladders was originally invented by Lewis Carroll. Players turn one word into another, one letter at a time. (Say, HEAD into TAIL.) Try Doublets online.

Prefix! We’ve loved this one, but it looks worrisomely about to go out of print. Players draw cards with one or two beginning letter prompts and compete to come up with the most (and the longest) words. For ages 9 and up.

Scattergories is a categories-based word game in which players are challenged to come up with a word beginning with a specific letter that fits the categories listed on your card. (Can you come up with a beverage, a mammal, a city, a cartoon character, and a dessert all beginning with the letter B?) For ages 13 and up.

My Word! (Outset) consists of a pack of single and double letter cards – first player to call out a word using at least three cards wins those cards. Fast, fun, and good for spelling. For ages 8 and up.

Wordplay for Kids is a word-building board game: a twirl of the spinner and a roll of the die give players two letters that their chosen word must contain and a category – say, Living Creatures or Something in the House – that the chosen word must fit. Can you come up with a food that contains the letters B and L? A girl’s name with J and M? Players compete to build the longest words, thus enabling them to advance around the playing board. For 2-6 players ages 6-12.

For ages 14 and up, see the Wordplay Family Edition.

Quickword is a multifaceted word-based game, centered around spelling and vocabulary skills, general knowledge, and creativity. Can you name a flower, a famous ship, and a weapon all starting with the letter S? How many mythical characters can you name? How many words can you come up with that start with B and also contain the letters E and R? (The quick part: you’ve only got 90 seconds in which to do it.) For 2 or more players ages 12 and up.

Word games online! Wordplays is a collection on online crosswords, anagrams, word finder games, and more.