Emily Carter

I bought My First Bananagrams about two years ago for my oldest kid, and it has been one of the best educational game purchases I have made. But I also know plenty of parents who grabbed it off the shelf, played twice, and let it collect dust. So is My First Bananagrams worth it? That … Read more

Looking for the best word games for building vocabulary? I’ve spent the last two months testing vocabulary games with my own family, my book club, and a group of middle schoolers to find out which ones actually deliver on their educational promises. After countless rounds of letter-tile shuffling, definition debates, and heated Scrabble matches, I … Read more

Teaching spelling in a homeschool setting can feel like pulling teeth when the only tool in your arsenal is a weekly word list and a worksheet. I learned this the hard way with my own kids a few years back. The tears, the groans, the sudden need for a bathroom break every time I said … Read more

Second grade is the year spelling really clicks. Kids move past simple three-letter words and start tackling vowel teams, r-controlled vowels, silent e, and compound words. It is also the year many parents watch their kids hit a wall and decide spelling is boring. I have spent the past three years testing spelling games with … Read more

Finding the best word games to play with a kindergartner can feel overwhelming when you walk into a toy store or browse online. Between flashy boxes, marketing promises, and games that look fun but fail to teach anything, parents end up confused. After testing dozens of options at our house with my own 5-year-old, our … Read more

Word games hit different when you find one that fits your group. After spending three months testing six popular options with my family and a few game-loving friends, I narrowed down the best word games under $20 that actually deliver real fun without burning through your wallet. The word game market exploded after Wordle took … Read more

Getting a reluctant reader to pick up a book can feel like an uphill battle. I’ve worked with families for years, and I keep coming back to one tool that quietly changes the game: word games. The best word games for reluctant readers take the pressure off and turn practice into play. When my own … Read more

The best word games for long car rides are portable, screen-free activities that keep the whole family laughing and learning from the first mile to the last. I have spent more hours than I can count in the back seat and the front seat of a family car, and I know the desperate feeling of … Read more

I have spent years watching students light up when learning feels like play instead of work. Word building games turn vocabulary drills into something kids actually ask for, and the right game can fill a five-minute gap or anchor an entire literacy center. After testing dozens of options in real classrooms, I narrowed this list … Read more

My daughter was stuck on the same five words for a week. Then I pulled a jar of magnetic poetry tiles out of a drawer, spread them across the fridge, and watched her rearrange “the cat sat” into “the happy frog sings blue.” Within an hour she had built a six-line poem about a dragon … Read more