Bananagrams - A game for spelling and vocabulary: it won't leave a bad taste in your mouth

by Sharon
(Leavenworth, Kansas)

Game: Bananagrams

Age Levels: 6-adult

Likes: This is a terrific twist on Scrabble! My younger kids got frustrated while playing Scrabble; they would put a word together in their scrabble tray and the opening would be used by their next turn. They were not skilled enough to come up with alternative words.

There is no tray with this game and the kids each create individual crossword puzzles at the same time. The letters come in a pouch that is shaped like a banana. Unused letters go into a pile in the center of the table; naturally, that pile is called the "bunch". When a player has none of his original letters left, he shouts "peel" and takes one letter tile from the bunch; everyone else takes three tiles.

This is a great way to improve vocabulary and spelling prowess. The game instructions include variations for shorter games or just to make things a little different and "banana shake" it up from time to time. Now we can all play together and everyone can still have fun.

Dislikes:
I have nothing bad to say, except that I wish I had purchased two banana pouches so that we could play this in larger groups with friends. I can't imagine how anyone could find this to be a "rotten" game. Tee hee.