We are a big game family. I have hundreds of games, some dating back to when my children were very young. They are now all married with children of their own, but my love of games hasn’t faded, and now I get to share it with my grandchildren.
Whenever I’m at the shops, I can’t help but wander over to the games to see if anything catches my eye. I’ve often noticed Bananagrams sitting on a shelf during these retail adventures, but somehow, I had convinced myself that it was just a more portable version of Scrabble. We already had three sets of Scrabble, including a flash versionon a Lazy Susan, so I didn’t really pay much notice of it.
That all changed recently.
My husband and I were holidaying with my daughter’s family and another family who are friends of hers. They had cabins, while we were travelling in our caravan. We always carry several games in the van, and we were all set to get them out at some point. But, in the end, we never actually played any of them.
My daughter had bought three large jigsaw puzzles, and she set one up on the table on the veranda of her cabin. Her idea was that, as we relaxed at the end of each day, we could chat and work on the puzzle at the same time. It was such a lovely way to unwind.
My daughter had bought three large jigsaw puzzles, and she set one up on the table on the veranda of her cabin. Her idea was that, as we relaxed at the end of each day, we could chat and work on the puzzle at the same time. It was such a lovely way to unwind.
Later in the evening, we headed over to her friends’ cabin. As we gathered around the table, they brought out a game of Bananagrams and asked if we would like to play. I declined at first. I didn’t know the rules, so I decided to sit back and watch a few rounds instead.
Well, what a surprise!
It was nothing like Scrabble. Bananagrams was fast-paced, exciting and required you to think on your feet. As I watched the game unfold, my mind started racing. Apart from the fact I had found a new game to play I began thinking of all the possibilities those little letter tiles could offer beyond the game itself. My brain went into overtime imagining ways to use them for CVC words, sentence construction, parts of speech, spelling activities and all sorts of learning opportunities.
Of course, i didn’t write any of my ideas down. At the time Nana Tam was just a concept and little spark of an idea in the back of my mind for someday. So now when I have use for all those ideas they have become a vague memery and now I’m trying to recreate them, which is never quite as successful the second time around. but I’ll put something together and share it anyway.
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I’ve probably rambled on enough, so let’s get to the point.
Bananagrams is a fantastic game, and owning a set could also give you a wonderful, hands-on resource for helping children develop their reading and spelling skills.
It’s fun, it’s engaging, and it gets children playing with letters wiithout making learning feel like work.
With love
Nana Tam
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