Sent in by Jennifer Angilly
You will need:
– Pencil and paper for each player
This game forces you to think beyond what is average and simple and helps develops skills in thinking fast!
Across the top of the paper write the alphabet from a – z. Then under the alphabet create 6 columns with the headings
Name ¦ Thing ¦ Food ¦ Colour ¦ Place ¦ Animal
You can vary the order, but all players should list them in the same order as each other. Each player when it is their turn chooses a letter of the alphabet. On the command “go” players then have write a name, thing, food, color, place and animal, beginning with the letter that was chosen as fast as they can. The player who finishes first shouts “stop” or “done” and the other players stop writing. Players then compare their lists by reading their answers. For every completed word 5 points are given (abbreviated or half written words do not count*). If any players have the same word for the same category that word for that category does not count for any player, but plural and singular versions of a word are not counted as the same.
At the end of the round the letter chosen is crossed off the list so it not reused and the next player in turn chooses a letter. Some letters are tricky / hard to use so when stuck players can say that they are or ‘out’ (unable to think of any or more words).
* – Since the game is reliant on speed it encourages players to think of things which not only match the letter, but also are ‘shorter’ to write. Eg, Uganda is quicker to write than United States of America. It might be beneficial to think about playing this game with a slight change to this rule and allow players to half-write any names over 6 letters, but they only get 3 points. 5 points for finishing the whole name.
