Writing Lessons & Advice: Word Games
- Mar 1
- 4 min read
How often do we play?
I remember from my fundamental education classes a theory that promotes learning through play. The gist of it is that the learner drives their own learning experience and ultimately gains rich benefits in personal skills as well as academic knowledge. Montessori schools/education utilize elements of this approach. Play-based learning is easy to imagine and facilitate in young grade levels. The education experience becomes more formalized for older or advanced learners; however, some situations may find ways to implement “play” that’s appropriate to them. In some cases, this may just look like role playing, creative projects, improvisation, competitions, or experimentation, among other ways.
I do recognize that life outside or after mandatory education does start to get busy as we get established with college, jobs, relationships, and other “adulting things”. But we don’t have to stop learning and playing! We can continue with word games, especially if you’re a writer! Here are some benefits to playing word games on a regular basis:
They work out your brain. A freelancer on Medium notes, “Any word game activates the same area in your brain that you need as a writer. That is important because these games then use the same neural pathways that your writing uses. But because they have a different approach, they also create new synapses.” Word games have also been found to enhance a variety of mental and language-related areas, like vocabulary, spelling, linguistic strategies, creativity, and communication. Many of these general cognitive skills are also engaged while writing.
Some games can even provide a basis for quirky story prompts too!
Many are social. Word games in general are just popular activities, making them good ways to connect and interact with people. Word game club exist in some places and competitions are held on the local, national, and international levels. They make good party games too; a wedding-themed Mad Libs was played at my bridal shower!
They provide fun, easy ways to introduce or promote learning concepts. Taking it “back to school” for a minute, word games hold appeal to both school and home lives. An interesting statistic I found during my research states that 35% of children who are encouraged by their parents to play word games are A grade students. I remember playing class-wide games of Sparkle to practice spelling words in elementary school. And I imagine I’m not alone in having this game or others as learning tools throughout the education experience, especially as technology made them easier to create, share, and implement.
As to learning through word games at home, one of my sources shares a story where the author used a game of Boggle to teach her children about homophones and homonyms. Also, I was introduced to the doggerel poem type after the word “doggerel” showed up in a literary-themed word search I completed for fun one night. Both cases offered natural, relaxed stepping stones into the deeper content.
Most are available in any format! Word games can be played online, through an app, with tangible pieces (boards, dice, cards, tiles, ect.), on pen and paper, or even with nothing at all!
That’s the how and why word games are awesome outlets for writers or anyone interested in bettering their literacy skills. But are you wondering where to start when it comes to word games? Here are some considerations:
Good “one player” games include crosswords, word searches, cryptograms, fill-it-ins, or scrambles.
Printed puzzle collections should be available amongst the magazine racks at most stores. Such collections contain either one kind or a variety of word games. A lot of the ones I find come from a publisher called Penny Dell Puzzles. Other magazines or newspapers themselves often have special sections for games too. Some can also come to you when you buy them online or opt in to available subscription options.
Many mobile or online games have options to play with friends you know, others within the platform’s network, or sometimes even bots.
The most common multiplayer word games are based on either spelling, associations, and/or communication.
Scrabble and its variants, Tapple, and Boggle are a few popular spelling-based games.
Titles in the vein of associations or communication include Scattergories, Taboo, Contexto, Apples to Apples, The Imposter Game, or Codenames.
Mad Libs does not fit as neatly into the above-mentioned styles, but they are still very popular word games. If unfamiliar, one or more players either completes a list or fills in designated blanks with requested parts of speech. All the blanks filled in create a funny short story—a bit like ad libbing with some craziness! Mad Libs has a wide variety of themes, categories, and pop culture-related selections that are sure to interest just about anyone!
Most of these have kid-friendly versions for younger participants. If you're an educator, some platforms, programs, or websites allow you to customize certain games for your lessons. (Some suggestions are in the sources/further reading section.)
Some games need nothing more than a handful of willing players in one place, like the alphabet games/challenges, rhyming challenges, the concentration hand clap game, charades, or any others thought up by those involved.
As the theory implies, some of the best learning can happen through play. We may grow up, but we don’t need to grow completely out of playful habits. Regular word gamers stay sharp, do better in school, learn more in fun ways, and can have a good time both on their own or with others. Word games provide plenty of positive qualities for writers, but those also extend to anybody else of just about any age! Word games make it possible to keep learning as long as we can manage them!
Hope you’re more interested in playing more word games!
Which word games do you like? How often do you play? If you want to discuss those or other topics you want me to cover in the future, you’re welcome to reach out to me in the comments, web chat, or socials!
Sources/Further reading
Facts and figures
DIY/educational sources:
More game suggestions:
https://lex.games/ --promoted by Grammar Girl! (see this podcast)
More about play-based learning and Montessori education
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