Scrabble Alphabet Scoop

Scrabble Alphabet Scoop - Add spelling to the long list of skills this game can help develop.

 

Scrabble Alphabet Scoop is a spelling game geared toward kids. It includes a fun, lidded soup pot and four small ladles so that you can pretend that you are eating, or cooking, alphabet soup. Pull it out when it's time to learn those spelling words.

The pot, lid and ladles are colorful, sturdy plastic. The lid sits on the pot just fine, but it does not snap on. The tiles (98 with a single letter and four blank) are hard plastic and measure 3/4" x 3/4". You can store the pieces in the pot when you are done playing.

The word cards each have five words: two 3-letter words, two 4-letter words, and one 5-letter word (see image below). They are laminated and the letters on the cards are smaller than the actual tiles, so you cannot build right on top of the card. You will have to form your word next to the card.

Object:

Be the first player to collect four word cards.

Set up:

To set the game up, dump the tiles into the bowl and place it within reach of all players. There are three types of tiles:

• Letter tiles - Most of the tiles are letter. One letter per tile, printed front and back.
• Blank tiles - Nothing printed on these, they are wild and can be used for any letter. 
• "Fly in the soup" tiles - There are two of these orange tiles that have a fly printed on them. If you happen to scoop one up you must return all tiles from that scoop and any tiles that you have already matched to your word back to the pot. Put that fly aside, he is now out of the game. Now you'll really need to hustle to catch up.

Give each player a word card. Each player chooses one word from his card to spell and announces the word. No extra credit or points are given for choosing the longer words.

Play:

On go, all players play at once, reaching into the pot and scooping out letters with their orange scoops. Dump the letters on the table and sort through looking for any you may need. If you find any, place them by your card and return any unused tiles to the pot and scoop again until you have all the letters you need. The first player to collect all his letters yells "YUMMY!" and all play stops. If he is correct, he collects that card and everyone's tiles are returned to the pot and all cards the other players were using are placed in a discard pile. Each player gets a new card and round two begins. The first player to collect four cards wins the game.

Try this:

• Pick your word after you pull out the tiles, not before.
• Spell all five words, over five rounds, on one card to win a game.
• Skip the game. Place tiles for one or more words on the table next to the cards and place them in order to spell the words.
• Look at the letters after you dump them from the scoop in the orientations that they land. 
• Use a list of spelling words instead of the game card.
• Place one or two letters at a time in the individual's palm and have them bring them to the fingertips, one at a time, and orient to place on the table. Spell all five words on a card this way.
• Pick a three letter word and place those three piles in the individual's palm. Ask him to bring them to the fingertips, in order, and orient to place on the tabletop and spell in the word.
• Put the tiles away by picking them up one at a time and squirreling them in the palm. Throw them into the box by the handfuls. How many can you hold?
• Dump all the tiles on the table, leave them in place so that they are in different orientations. Pick out all of one letter, then all of another, etc. Put them away alphabetically. 
  Dump a scoop of letters on the table. Who can be the first to spell a word with the letters?
  Dump a handful of tiles on the table. Get in some writing practice by making a list of all the words that you can find.
• Instead of collecting cards to win, players write the word they won with and whoever writes five words first wins. Get in writing practice.
• Eat a bowl of alphabet soup after playing the game and see if you can spell your game word(s) with the real thing. Look for other words you can spell in the soup. As you look around the bowl, call out the letters you recognize. Choose one letter and see who can find it first in his bowl. Scoop up a spoonful of letters and name each one out loud before eating it. See how many of a single letter you can get on your spoon at the same time.
  
• Work on visual discrimination, visual closure, spatial relations, visual form constancy, tool use, writing, copying, spelling, manual dexterity, fine motor precision, in-hand manipulation, palmar arch development, eye-hand coordination, executive functioning skills, process skills, social interaction skills, play and leisure exploration and participation

In the box: Plastic bowl with lid, 4 plastic scoops, 104 tiles (98 letter, 4 blank), 2 Fly in the Soup tiles, 72 word cards.

If you are interested in purchasing this game or just learning more about it, click on the image below. 

Sudoku for Kids

Sudoku for Kids

Sudoku is a kid-sized, one-person logic game for beginners. Sudoku puzzles are common in newspapers and my mother-in-law works them in pen. I wouldn't dare.

The original Sudoku puzzles are played on a 9X9 grid that is made up of nine smaller 3X3 grids. Sudoku is played with numbers (1-9). The goal is to number the boxes in each smaller grid, using the numbers 1-9 once each, so that each row of the 9X9 grid will also have the numbers 1-9 and each column of the 9X9 grid will have the numbers 1-9. No duplicates, no omissions in any of the grids, rows, or columns.

The 25 puzzle cards are two-sided with a puzzle printed on each side, 50 challenges total. Each card is rated for difficulty Each challenge will start you with a few, or a lot of numbers, depending on how difficult it is going to be to solve. There are three levels of difficulty, indicated by stars in the bottom right hand corner. One star is the easiest and three stars is the hardest. Most puzzles are two stars, somewhere in between in difficulty. The cards are numbered but they don't increase in difficulty as you go because the first challenge is a level two. 

This beginner game uses a 6X6 grid. There are six 2X3 grids and each row and column of the 6X6 grid contains six boxes. Each puzzle card will show anywhere between 10-14 pieces already in place. The easier the puzzle, the more of a single color there will be already shown.

This game is played with colored animals instead of numbers. There are six green rhinos, six orange lions, six purple turtles, six yellow elephants, six blue dogs, and six red fish.  

First puzzle and last puzzle challenge cards.

The board is folded in half to fit in the tin and opens flat. You just lay the animals in the squares as you play. I see they have a new version of this game where there are short "walls" around each box on the board so pieces can't be bumped and move around on you as you play. All the animals but the fish and the turtle can stand. You can also lay them all flat on the grid.

A board set up for a game.

Try this:

• Use the challenge cards and set up each game to work on VP skills if the individual would not be able to solve the puzzles.
• Set up each puzzle by picking up several animals, one at a time, and squirreling them into the palm. Then move them to the fingertips one at a time and orient for placement on the board.
• Start by looking to place a color that has the fewest number left to place. Then start looking where that color can't go and you will narrow it down to the available spaces.
• Work a puzzle or more with the individual. Talk through each step of your strategy as you play.
• Ask the individual to talk through his strategy as he plays so that you can follow his thinking and help him adjust when/if he is wrong.
• Work on visual discrimination, visual closure, visualization, spatial relations, eye-hand coordination, logic, problem solving, in-hand manipulation, manual dexterity, executive functioning skills, process skills, play and leisure exploration and participation

In the tin: Game board, 36 plastic animals in six different colors, 25 puzzle cards (50 puzzles total)