Do you and your family spend too long looking at screens? Try taking an hour a week to dedicate to family time, these word games are a good way to get the competitive juices flowing. All you need is a pencil and paper – and a bit of brainpower!
How Many Words
How to play: Write down a nice long word like HYDRATION, then see how many other words you can make from the letters, using each letter only once. To make it more exciting, set a time limit of one or two minutes and see who can find the most.
Possible answers for hydration: ANY, ART, DRAIN, DRY, HAD, HARD, HAT , HIT, IRON, NOR, NOT, RADIO, RAIN, RAY, RID, TAR, TIN, TRAIN, TRAIN, TRY
Going Bananas
How to play: List several categories such as
- Boys' names
- Girls' names
- Animals
- Colours
- Food
- Countries
Then pick a letter of the alphabet at random, and everyone has to think of an appropriate word beginning with that letter for each category.
For example, for the letter 'B', you might write: Ben, Belinda, Badger, Blue, Bananas and Belgium. The first to fill in all their categories wins that round. Or set a time limit and see who gets the most in the time allowed.
Alphabet Shopping
This is a good memory game to play in the car, as it doesn't even need a pencil and paper. Each player has to add an item to the shopping list using the next letter of the alphabet – A, B, C and so on. So the first player says:
- 'I went shopping and I bought an Apple.' The next says,
- 'I went shopping and I bought an Apple and a Banana.' Then,
- 'I went shopping and I bought an Apple, a Banana and a Cup...
- And the game continues until a player can't remember the full list. How far down the alphabet will you get?
Water is one of the healthiest drinks you can give your child, as it refreshes and hydrates without giving them extra calories. And it's important for them to know that drinking enough water.Water contributes to the maintenance of normal physical and cognitive function and normal regulation of body temperature. At least 2L of water, from all sources, should be consumed per day, as part of a healthy diet and lifestyle.
