Описание «Make-a-Word Card Game»
Make-a-Word Card Game is «a fun game of building words!».
Description from the box: «A fast-paced game of word building fun. Words change quickly as players play a beginning sound card or a word family card. The first person to play all his cards wins.»
In the game, each player is dealt a hand of five cards showing either a single letter as the start of a word or a two-letter combination as the end of a word. The remaining cards are placed in a draw pile. The first card of the draw pile is turned over, and the first player must then place a word start card before it if it is a word ending or an ending word if it is a starting card. If the player cannot make a word, he or she must draw a card, and must then either play it if possible or end his/her turn. Play then proceeds around the table, with each player trying to play either a starting or ending card on top of a card already showing in order to make a new word. The first player to empty his or her hand wins.
Activity
A compound word is a long word that is made up of two smaller words—think “bookcase,” for example, or “playground.” Compound words may look hard at first, but things get easier if kids can spot two smaller words that they already know. Want to add a little “holy moly!” to something that can feel «ho hum?» This card game will help you practice making compound words—and have some fun while you’re at it!
What You Need:
- Index cards
- Pencils, markers, crayons or a combination of writing utensils
What You Do:
- Make a set of “word cards.” Give your child the following list of words: life time can not cross walk moon light any body mean back ground bath room break fast day dream down town up stairs some butter fly fire thing one else where base ball day up side no air plane bed time
- Set it up. Ask your child to write each word on its own index card. Then have her lay the cards in a pile, word down, and shuffle the deck. Each player gets 5 cards. The rest of the pile goes in the middle.
- The object of the game: Collect as many compound words as possible, by finding “pairs” of cards that go together to form a word. The player with the most pairs at the end, wins.
- Starting with the youngest player, each player looks at his hand and asks another player for cards. For example, if a player had the word “any” in his hand, he might ask, “Jason, do you have cards that go with “any?” If the other player has any words that can be attached to “any” (for example, “body”, “day”, “where”, or “time”) to make a compound word, he hands them over.
- If a player gets the card(s) he asks for, it’s still his turn. He can ask for something else, for example, “Mom, do you have any cards that go with “cross?” But if a player asks for a card that his opponent doesn’t have, he’s told, “Go Build!” He must pick up the top card in the middle pile. If it’s something he can make a compound word with, using one of the cards in his hand, he shows the pair and his turn goes on. Otherwise, his turn ends.
- Play continues like this. Each time a player find a compound word match, he shows the other players, then lays it beside him in a pile. Whoever had the most compound word pairs in the end, wins.
- Want to check your work? There are many possible answers, but here are some words that were originally used for the list above: lifetime cannot crosswalk moonlight anybody meantime somebody butterfly firefly something someone elsewhere baseball today upside nowhere background breakfast daybreak daydream downtown upstairs bedtime airplane
- Of course, there are thousands of compound words in the English language. So don’t limit yourself to this list! Brainstorm as many as you’d like to add to the deck. And let your kid in on the challenge!
Create your own word games and logic puzzles to test friends, students, and strangers with these free websites.
Do you know what’s more fun than playing word games and logic puzzles? Creating your own games to test friends and strangers, which you can do with these free websites.
Puzzles have been scientifically proven to be good for your brain in various ways, including building memory, improving problem-solving skills, and enhancing your mood. The next step in the journey is to make your own games and quizzes. And it’s easier than ever with several free sites offering ways to create your own custom puzzle.
1. My Wordle (Web): Make Your Own Wordle Game
Who knew a simple 5-letter word guessing game would take the internet by storm? But Wordle has gone viral, with people posting their daily scores as emojis on every type of social media. Well, you can now make your own Wordle to test your friends with this simple app.
Visit the web page, and you’ll be prompted to type in a 5-letter or 6-letter word, which then generates a custom URL you can share with friends. In fact, the rest of the rules are the same as Wordle. Recipients have to guess the correct word in five attempts (or six in the case of a six-letter word). Wrong letters turn grey, correct letters turn yellow if on the wrong tile, and green if on the right tile.
Like the original, the app also generates shareable emojis of your winning turn. You can view your solving percentage statistics at any point, as long as you’re using the same browser each time. And no one needs to sign up to use the site.
2. ProProfs (Web): Create Your Own Word Games for Free
ProProfs is a simple website to create your own word games that anyone can play. Unlike several other free online puzzle makers, ProProfs doesn’t limit how many puzzles you can make at a time or how many people can play it.
Currently, you can create seven types of puzzles on ProProfs:
- Word Search: List all the words you want, set a time limit, and give it a description for participants to begin their word search.
- Crossword: Simply add the intended word and the hint for it. ProProfs will figure out the placement of the tiles.
- Sliding puzzle: Add an image, choose how many pieces to break it up in, and ProProfs will create an online sliding puzzle where players unjumble the scrambled piece.
- Jigsaw: A standard jigsaw puzzle maker where you can add the original image.
- Hangman: Add a list of words for a five-chance words of Hangman.
- Word Scramble: Add a word and a hint for players to solve an anagram and guess the original
- Brain Teasers: A multimedia quiz where you can add an image and a text question (as well as a hint), and then an image and text answer.
While the variety is great, ProProfs doesn’t offer a lot of customization in the games. It’s probably ideal for teachers to make games for students rather than adults trying to challenge other adults.
3. Maze Generator (Web): Create a Custom Maze as Big as You Want
Who doesn’t love solving a maze puzzle? It’s one of those activities you start doing as a kid, and you can continue doing as an adult. But naturally, you want it to be more difficult. Maze Generator will let you create a custom maze as large and as difficult as you want.
Four main factors determine the difficulty and size of your maze. Columns and rows define how wide and how tall the maze will be. In general, a 20×20 grid is moderately challenging for an adult, but if you really want to push yourself, try a 50×50 grid. Next, choose your entry and exit points (corners, left and right, or top and bottom).
The fourth point of difficulty comes with a bias, which determines how the maze walls will be laid. So, for instance, if you want a lively challenge, you could set top and bottom entries, horizontal bias, and really crank up the columns. Plus, you can customize the background color, the maze color, and the thickness of the walls. And yes, you can download and print it for free.
4. My Word Search and Crossword Hobbyist (Web): Best Custom Word Search and Crossword Makers
While ProProfs lets you make your own word search or crossword puzzle, it’s a really basic version that doesn’t offer much customization. The best word game makers on the internet are My Word Search (MWS) and Crossword Hobbyist (CH), both from the same developers. They’re free for 30 days, after which you’ll have to buy a premium version (but there’s a discount to buy them together).
MWS has some really funky options, like choosing different puzzle shapes such as a flower, snowman, spiral, and other shapes apart from the usual square. You can set the puzzle size and the directions in which the words will appear. Once that’s set, just add your list of words, and you’re good to go.
Crossword Hobbyist makes crosswords in two ways. You can type your words and clues and have it auto-arrange for you, or you can set a grid and type directly in it. Registered users can also save their progress in any crossword, which is essential for crossword lovers. You’ll also be able to preview your crossword as you make it, and adjust on the go.
5. PuzzleScript (Web): Make Your Own Sokoban-Type Tile Puzzle Game
Sokoban is one of Japan’s oldest and most popular puzzle video games. The simple puzzle is about the player pushing crates to their designated place in a warehouse, but each level makes this more difficult. With PuzzleScript, anyone can make their own version of a Sokoban-type tile-based puzzle game with little to no coding knowledge.
Check the PuzzleScript How To section to learn the basic commands for all the ways in which your player can interact with the tile. It’s a pretty simple way to move crates either by pushing or pulling, which you can then use in the PuzzleScript editor. The engine also adds a few extra game features like an eyeball, a block, a sumo wrestler, a sprite, a kitty, and a fruit. Use them how you want to create a custom game.
You can check the gallery of games made with the PuzzleScript engine for inspiration and even import their code to start as a base for your game. It’s one of the easiest ways to create your own puzzle video game for free.
Don’t Be Oversmart
Whether you’re making a crossword puzzle or a maze, it’s tempting to try to do the hardest logic puzzle to challenge your players. But resist this and instead, choose a difficulty level less than what you think your players will enjoy. The key to making a great puzzle is not to make it impossible to solve but solvable after some thought and effort.
The following list is yet another excellent resources for ESL/EFL teachers that will surely increase student engagement in the class. I am talking about easy-to-use, free word games generator online where teachers can easily create vocabulary games for review or warm up activities. I chose these websites because they focus only on one or two games thus they are specialized, very user-friendly and so convenient to use that you will be done making your games in seconds!
If you are not familiar with these warm up games, you may check out this post.
Free Word Games Generator
Spelling City
VocabularySpellingCity is an award-winning educational website focusing on spelling and vocabulary used by millions of teachers and parents worldwide. You can quickly start by creating your own word list and then choose an activity type for your students to play such as Spelling, Writing, Phonics, Vocabulary and more.
FlipQuiz
Are you familiar with Jeopardy? FlipQuiz is another free word games maker that does just that! It provides educators with a quick way to create your own game show-style boards for test reviews in the classroom. Traditionally, these are created tediously, using poster board, chalkboards, PowerPoint or dry-erase markers on overhead slides. The review questions themselves are usually written on a separate sheet of paper.
With FlipQuiz, questions are displayed on-screen and boards are saved for later use. Combined with a beautiful board, students are more likely to be interested and stay engaged with the test review process.
Puzzle Makers
There are many types of vocabulary puzzles for all ages including adults! I like the fact that I can have a number of different unique vocabulary puzzles created to printout on the same topic. So when we are studying a topic in English, say “Family and Friends”, I can print out six different sets then split the class into six groups and give them each a unique puzzle to solve.
Riddles
Riddle is an activity in which you must find out a word according to some given clues. Educaplay Riddles are quick games that can help the player review concepts through definitions, sounds and images. You can easily create your own riddle game when you register for a free account!
ALSO READ: Activities to End a Lesson
Brain Boosters
I love giving my kids brain booster activities! Discovery Education offers a wide selection of brain boosters that are fun and challenging! You can choose from different categories such as Logic, Reasoning, Word and Letter Play, and more! If your lesson finishes earlier than planned, you can easily go to the website and read out some brain boosters to your students!
Or you can simply download this ready-to-play Brain Teasers I made using PowerPoint.
Connect Fours
This fun and free word games generator is from my favorite ClassTools website! Students are shown 16 words. They need to group them into 4 rows of 4 connected items. This game is great for reviewing categories and making inference.
Bingo Baker
Bingo Baker makes it easy to create bingo cards. You can generate hundreds of random cards and print them using the printer-friendly PDF (with no ads or watermarks). You can also save paper (and waste electricity instead) by playing your bingo game online (it works on the iPad).
Instructions: Just type your words into the grid on the left. You can give your game a title and can change the BINGO column headings too.
Then click the Generate button and you are good to go!
HANGMAN.NO
The best site to create and play the classic letter guessing game hangman. Challenge your kids to guess as many secret words as they can before the time runs out. My students love the cool tune and slick animation!
THE WORD SEARCH
Let your students find hidden words in a grid of jumbled letters using this simple to use Word Search maker. You can create your very own or use their 100% free online collection of word search puzzles.
TABOO GAME
This website lets you create your own taboo cards by entering the word to be guessed in the top field and the taboo words in the bottom fields.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Classroom Speaking Activities for Any Language Class
JEOPARDY LABS
This lets teachers create their own online games of Jeopardy by using their simple online editor. No powerpoint and no registration is required, and each game has its own unique url address so this really stands out for me.
If you prefer doing it offline, then check out my ELA Jeopardy Game!
WORD SCRAMBLE
Make your own set of jumbled words using this cool word scrambler. It allows you to give hints and the game comes with a timer.
MATCH THE MEMORY
Help your students improve not only their English but also their concentration skills with this powerful memory matching game creator! Make your own custom memory game using pictures, words, videos and more!
WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE
Create a fun, free review game in the style of Who Wants to be a Millionaire with up to 15 questions and whatever values you choose for each round. The graphics and sounds used in this game are similar to that of the television show making this review game more exciting!
WORD GENERATOR
I love this super convenient tool that generates words for your guessing game. All you need to do is choose the kind of guessing game you want to play, the category and level of difficulty and you are good to go – the word generator will give you a game word from the list and you can play!
QUIZLET LIVE
Quizlet Live is an online classroom vocabulary game tool where teams of three or four students work together to be first to match vocabulary terms with their correct definitions. It is free and easy to use, allowing teachers to create customized flash cards with text, images and audio. Similar to Quizlet Live is the interactive game maker Kahoot.
Not tech savvy? Try: ESL Warm Up Games with Free PowerPoint Downloads
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What would you add to these? Let us know in the comments!
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Last week we went through lots of examples of game mechanics and published games that make players feel smart. This week’s article is on how to make a great word game, and not surprisingly, ties in well to many of the same game mechanics we looked at in last week’s article.
We should first start by defining what a word game is. Most games do involve words in some way, and there some games like Codenames and Just One that are about guessing words. However, I think of word games a little differently.
What I’m really talking about here are word-building games.
I like to define word games as those that are all about trying to come up with words based on the letters you have available, which are really all about problem-solving, just in a way you might not have thought of before. When you come up with a great word, you feel smart and really good about yourself.
But at the same time, word games can be very think-y and may lead players to analysis paralysis (AP).
So, we’re going to look at examples of how to make a great word game, along with what game mechanics to avoid.
Some Things to Avoid
Scrabble is probably the world’s best-selling and well-known word game. It originally was released in 1938 at a time where there weren’t a ton of board games available and it was the only one all about making words with the letters you had available.
However, when you analyze Scrabble, you see that it has some flaws.
One of the biggest issues is downtime. It can often take a player several minutes to come up with not only a word but also a location on the board that they can place it. That’s because they have 7 letters to work with and many different locations on the board that a word can be placed. They also have to be able to build off at least one letter on the board to make that word.
This can cause quite a bit of analysis paralysis (AP). Not only that, but while other players can look at their letters and think about what they might do with them, the board state will often change considerably by the time it comes around to their turn. They will often no longer be able to place their letters as they had planned. This leads to a lot more thinking by the current player and much more waiting by all the other players.
Many of these negatives could be avoided by having separate boards or play areas for each player rather than a common board, as well as speeding up turns by allowing for simultaneous play and a smaller space for decision-making.
Still, modern word games might not have existed if it weren’t for Scrabble. We must give credit to those who have come before and set the stage.
Let’s look now at how word games have evolved and the game mechanics they have employed to create a more engaging experience.
Modern Word Games
Word games have evolved a lot since the days of Scrabble. While not considered “modern” anymore, Boggle was released in 1973 and introduced a fast, simultaneous word game with players writing down all the words they saw in a short period.
Much like Karuba, Scarabia, Cartographers, and Number 9, all mentioned in my previous article, in Boggle, all players have the exact same information to work with but will see things differently and will come up with their own unique words. In fact, only unique words will score. If you write down the same word as any other player, it gets crossed off and you won’t score any points.
Wordsy (originally released as Prolix), uses a system where all players are trying to make the best word they can with the eight consonant cards in front of them and any vowels they require. Similar to Scrabble, letters are worth different values, so you’re trying to score the highest point word each round.
Bananagrams is like Scrabble on speed. All players build their own crossword-like setup, using the letter tiles that they draw. Everyone plays simultaneously and the faster you go the harder you make it on your opponents, as they must draw an additional tile every time any other player places their last tile.
Word games continued to evolve, making use of cards with letters represented on them and allowing players to build words with what they have available. Tim Fowers added a twist when he created Paperback and Hardback, which incorporate deckbuilding, something normally reserved for more strategic card games like Dominion and Star Realms.
I discovered Letter Jam at Fan Expo in 2019 and recently picked up a copy when the memory of playing it came to my mind. I remembered enjoying playing this and since it was a relatively cheap game to buy, I couldn’t say no!
Letter Jam is a rare co-operative word game where you’re trying to guess the letter in front of you, which only other players can see. You first come up with a five-letter word (one letter per card), shuffle your cards, and pass them to the player on your left.
Then everyone displays one letter in front of them and your teammates come up with words based on the letters in front of each other, as well as some non-player letters. It’s up to you to determine what letter is missing in that word so that you can figure out your own letter.
You do this multiple times to try to uncover the five letters in your word and then you have to unscramble them to come up with the original word that your teammate passed to you at the start of the game.
It’s not the easiest game to describe in words. You really have to try it out and see it in action. But I can say it’s a whole lot of fun! It uses clues, guessing, and hidden information to create a fun and challenging experience.
What word game do you love and what game mechanics does it use to create an engaging experience?
Please share this with me and other readers by leaving a comment.
Next week we’ll be looking at ways to ensure your players are engaged.