It all started when I had Maeve- my husband got me an iphone a week later and I downloaded "Words with Friends" to play during her late night feedings. During the day when an opponent would make a move against me, the phone would ding and my kids would jump up excitedly and grab the phone for me. They were always watching me play, trying to get me to use their word suggestions. When my husband left to go back to work and we weren't going to see him for a month, I decided to let each of the older boys start one game against him. This was a great way for them to interact with him daily since they wouldn't be seeing him for a while. Well, the next thing I knew, they were playing against all three of my brothers, my dad, my sister-in-law, and several of my friends. In fact, they had so many games going, when one of mine ended, I couldn't start a new one.
It is hard for me to complain about my kids monopolizing the game on my phone because they are reading, writing, thinking, calculating, and just plain having fun! When someone plays a word against them, they remember the word to play another time. Example: qi, the only 2 letter q word and it can make you a lot of points when played in the right spot. We've looked several of the words up in the dictionary so they know what they mean.
The other day, Nathaniel rattled off his letters to me and asked me what word he should play, I said "ninth", then from the way back of our car, Addison shouts, "Mom that's only nine points!" OK- WHOA, he couldn't even see the phone from where he was- yes, my son has played so much he has memorized the point values of the letters and now can calculate in his head (not bad for an almost first grader).
We also downloaded "Hanging with Friends", it's basically hangman for your iphone. These two games are going to be a great way for my kids to communicate with their uncles, aunts, and grampa when we move 1,000 miles away in two weeks. How fun is it to be able to play a game with your family and friends everyday even when you are so far away?
This week, I've been occupied packing, so two mornings I told the kids to get out Scrabble and play it. How antiquated of me- no computer to do it for them. They had to add up their own points and then verify with me if their word was real or not. Even Owen, the almost kindergardener was playing. Nathaniel would spell him the words and he would find the letters and place them where they belonged. Sometimes Owen just takes the board out on his own and lines up the letters and says them to me as he goes along.
This is fun for everyone. Maybe not everyone can make a real word (ages 3 and 5)- but they still have fun and when they do make a word, you could not wipe the smile off their face! I would much rather hear my kids fighting over whether a word is real or not or how many points it is versus over whose toy is whose or what show to watch.
How many words can you find in here?
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