Time is ticking—can you find all the words hidden in the grid? Even better, can you find unique words that no one else can find? Can you be fast? And creative? If so, you’re well on your way to becoming a Boggle champ!
Boggle is recommended for players age 8 and up, but you could tailor some of the rules to accommodate younger players. For example, you can play longer rounds, or you can adjust the scoring so that players receive points for all their words, no matter how many players find the words.
Boggle is one of those special games that’s so fun and engaging, kids don’t even realize they’re learning while they play!
Shake the grid until all sixteen cubes settle into the sixteen slots. When everyone is ready, take off the lid and flip the timer over. Now all the players look at the grid and try to find words formed by chains of letters.
Let’s take a look at the grid for this round.
Do you see any words? The word PEA is right in the middle of the grid. Can you find it? Start at the letter P, move down to E, then diagonally up to A. See it now?
Now keep looking at the center of the grid. If you look hard you can find TEA, ATE, EAT, PET, TAP, PAT, TAPE, and PEAT. And that’s just using four letters!
Can you find a five-letter word? Let me help!
Using the L in the top row, you can spell the word PLATE.
But hang on—there are four more sneaky words hiding in there: PLAT, LAP, PAL, and LATE. Whenever you find a long word, make sure you look for words hidden inside the word.
Now take a look at the top row. At first glance, it might look like you can make the word PILE. But when you look closer, you’ll see that in order to make the word PILE, you would have to jump from the L to the E. And that’s illegal!
The letters you use to form a word must be touching vertically, horizontally, or diagonally in a chain. You can’t skip or jump across letters. And remember, you can’t use the same letter more than once in the same word. For example, on our grid, you can’t make the word PILL because there is only one L on the grid.
Keep looking for words in the grid until the time runs out.
Are you done? When time’s up, read your words to the other players. You only get points for the words on your list that don’t appear on anyone else’s list. If multiple players find the same word, no one gets points for that word.
Now count up your points! You get 1 point for three- and four-letter words, 2 points for five-letter words, 3 points for six-letter words, 5 points for seven-letter words, and 11 points for words with 8 or more letters. That’s a LOT of points!
Want to play a quick round? Set a timer for 90 seconds and see how many words you can find in this Boggle grid! Post your number in the comments below.
Does your family have a favorite board game that is a fun and “sneaky” way to build language skills? Please share in the comments below!
steph
says:Love playing boggle! Another good one is bananagrams
Whitney
says:I love adding games to learning. It’s so easy to practice math with games, but it’s great to find suggestions to solidify other subjects, too.
Viviana
says:This is great we love using ganes for learning around here. Can’t wait for my girls to get a little older to add this one to our collection/rotation
Colleen
says:What a wonderful idea! Will use this with my son when he’s a little bit older.
Alexa Sifuentes
says:I grew up playing Boggle with my mom and she ALWAYS beat me! But my memories are fond. I love watching my kids learn with games so this is a great reminder to incorporate Boggle!
Jenn
says:I love teaching with games! My kids are having fun and don’t even realize they’re learning!
Samantha
says:My kids love learning though games, thanks for the great idea!
Amanda
says:We love playing games to enhance learning. We will try boggle.
Crystal
says:I love sneaking learning into our days with games!
Paula
says:Thanks for the tips on how to make the game more fun for younger players. I love Boggle and I think my kids would too.
Ashley L
says:Great idea!
Julie
says:This was a great game to play with my son!
Bonnie
says:Sounds fun!
Lynn DeBuhr Johnson
says:I have been homeschooling since 1990, and am now working with my grandchildren. We love using Boggle to help with spelling. It’s fun and it sticks in their brain better than anything.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceSo, true, Lynn! When learning is fun, it sticks so much better!
Jeanne Gereau
says:Great idea!
Kimberly
says:How fun!
Gen
says:This is great idea!
Anita
says:Thanks for reminding me about Boggle! This is exactly what I need to help my kiddos with their spelling skills.
Kori Villegas
says:I love word games so I think this would be great for us to play together!
Tannis W
says:I don’t think I’ve ever played Boggle. What a great idea for playing with words and practicing spelling.
LeAnn Harbert
says:This is a great idea to help build reading skills while having fun.
Tonya Sinner
says:We just got this game as a gift from family and we love it!! It has really helped!!
Allison
says:I like the idea of turning the letters to the same direction!
Brandy
says:Such a great idea! My boys love games, and this would be such an interactive and fun way to improve language skills.
Cinda
says:This looks like a fun game!
Shannon
says:So fun. My kids love playing games to learn.
Kristen Bernstein
says:I love the creative ideas for using regular games to make learning super fun and involve the whole family! We are going camping soon and I think this is the perfect way to bring some learning along and have extra family fun too!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceGreat idea, Kristen. Boggle will be a great camping game!
Nichole
says:This is so fun! Thank you for all the tips to teach. Can’t wait to teach my son this game in a couple years.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceI’m glad you like these tips, Nichole!
David Eggert
says:We currently do boggle and scrabble. The kids think it’s fun and they learn from it.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceYes, Scrabble is a great game for learning too! Thank you.
Laura Royal
says:Such a fun learning game.