B a r b a r a s h e r I l L u s t r a t I o n s b y r a L p h

T
Y P E O F
A
T T E N T I O N
E
N C O U R A G E D
Open
M
A T E R I A L S
Index cards
Pen
D
I R E C T I O N S
Write each letter of the alphabet on a separate index card. Make more than
one card for each vowel and common consonants.
There are three ways to play:
1. Backwards. Lay out the cards so that a word is written backwards.
Without touching the cards, your player has to guess what the word
would spell when written forward. After he guesses, he can rearrange
the letters to see if he is right.
2. Jumbled. Choose any word you want and lay out the letters of that
word in no particular order. The player’s job is to look at all those let-
ters and rearrange them in his head to form a word. After he does, he
can rearrange the letters on the cards.
3. List. Give your teens a list of words or let them come up with a list.
Then have them either spell out a word backwards or jumble it and
Games for Teens
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challenge each other to solve the word puzzle and see how many they
can figure out.
These same games can be played with younger children or a mixed age
group by giving the players words that suit their skill level.
V
A R I A T I O N S
⽧ Give children clues, especially if they seem to be stuck. For example, a
clue to the letters “wetasre” could be “It’s something useful to have if
you get cold.”
⽧ Use toilet paper rolls instead of index cards. Write a letter on each roll
and stand it on end. One advantage to rolls is that they stand up nicely
and can be knocked down like
bowling pins at the end of
each game,
which
gives an added zest to
the activity. The other
advantage is that it
gives us a chance to
reuse those nice pieces
of rolled cardboard.