Isn’t it funny how such a simple game of Scrabble has developed into another World Wide competition. I was really surprised to hear this on the news last month. How amazing that two young British boys aged 8 and 11 years old were crowned the World and European Champions at Scrabble. What an absolutely amazing achievement for ones so young.
I have enjoyed playing the Scrabble board game for many years. Firstly, when I was a youngster with my parents and now with my husband and children. It is a great way to get the children off their electronic devices, as it can feel like they are attached to them sometimes. Also it’s a great way to keep both our minds active by improving our vocabulary skills. It’s great fun and even better to spend that quality, family time together.
Luckily for me, both my children have always loved to read books and are quite knowledgeable with a great use of vocabulary.
When we first started playing Scrabble, my then 8 year old daughter would just about manage to pop a 3 letter word down. She would get excited if her score reached 100! But over the past few years she has grown in confidence and ability and is now scoring an average of 200 and 250 points. Which is a good score in our house, so it’s much more competitive. As we all like to win, the competition is fierce 😉
The skill of thinking of words from your own letters, to integrating them onto the board and trying to gain the most points, makes it quite a thought provoking game. My daughter has beaten me on a few occasions lately. I can see how she’s thinking and looking around the Scrabble board for better words and points. Filling in gaps and making 3-way words to gain extra points is her favourite thing to do at the moment.
Working from home is a benefit I take full advantage of as I get to spend more time with the children. So playing games like Scrabble, Monopoly or even something more recent like Scattergories for example, is a great way to have some family fun together.
Last Christmas, we visited my Mam’s place and relatives joined us, we took the Scattergories and Speak Out with us, and I don’t think I’ve heard so much laughter for a long time. We were all creased up and having a great time being together, joking around and talking to each other whilst playing these two games. It was one of our best Christmas get togethers.
Why not give it a go, obviously the children won’t want to be off their devices for long, but if it gives them and their eyes a break, even from the TV, then surely it’s worth it. One of the best things about playing Scrabble is it’s a great way of learning new words whilst also helping with spelling. An easy way of teaching the youngsters but in a fun way without them even realising it.