Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Today is National Scrabble Day! #PlayLikeHasbro

 

Woo hoo!
Today, April 13th, is National Scrabble Day! 


Scrabble is a game I grew up with and still love to play. I remember my grandmother sitting around with me many a day (or evening) playing games or putting together puzzles. My memories from that time are very pleasant, and as such it is a tradition I have carried over for my children. Scrabble is often on the game day (or night) list!


The board above shows the grid you will play on. The first thing you need to do is set the board on a flat surface, where it won't get bumped. That last tip is important. You don't want to set this up on the bed or couch because I guarantee you, you'll spend more time re-settling the letters in their proper spots than you will playing the actual game (experience is a great teacher). ;)


Each player will then randomly select (7) letter tiles from the drawstring bag, being sure the others in the game do not see them.


The tiles get placed on a wood tile bar, facing only the player to whom they belong.


Each player takes their turn to create a word with the tiles they have, building off of the words created by everyone that are on the board. You can add one letter to an existing word, make parallel words, bridge two words, or create new words, IF all of the letters involved create real words (in every direction they touch). The words have to meet the rules... no proper names, no acronyms, etc.

As a long-time player, I have five tips to offer, that I'm sure many of you can relate to in an instant. 
  • Keep a dictionary on hand, the longer the game goes, the more challenging it will get. When tiles start running out, and the letters available to make words are scarce, someone (or more than someone...or someone on multiple turns is going throw out a doozey of a 'word'...and you're going to have to look it up for clarification.
  • If kids are playing, they're going to attempt to throw in acronyms even though they are, per the rules, clearly not permitted. Don't allow this even if the acronym is very popular...not even once, because the kids will run with it and no matter how text or social media savvy you are, you just can't compete with kids for knowing trendy acronyms.
  • Someone's going to try and cheat...and you're all probably going to laugh. When you get down to just Q's and Z's on your tiles, believe you me, everyone is racking their brain to think of something that will work and get them some points.
  • Blank tiles feel like you've won the lottery. You might be tempted to use them the first time you have a bit of a challenge. Don't. Hold on to those for when you get towards the end of the game and you have REAL challenges. Remember, patience is a virtue. ;)
  • The game is going to get competitive, and if your family is like ours...it's going to get loud. Have fun with it, and realize everyone involved is a winner because you're getting the biggest perk of all by playing: friend/family time!

Scrabble is sold in 121 countries, with 29 different language versions. It comes in the traditional style I've photographed here, and it comes in different versions as well. I'm thinking the electronic version might be fun to get, and we already have a bookshelf travel version as well (oh yes, we do love this game). Scrabble is intended for 2-4 players, ages 8+

You can purchase it in stores everywhere, or on the Hasbro website

Happy National Scrabble Day!

71 comments:

  1. Hi Rosie - I love Scrabble .. and yes we played as kids ... it's a great teacher and brain stimulator for many .. cheers Hilary

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  2. We still play Scrabble today, both the board and electronic versions. We also have UpWords, a Scrabble variation.

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  3. Scrabble is always fun to give a run

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  4. I think I am going to have to challenge Chris to a game of Scrabble tonite to celebrate!

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  5. This is a fun game indeed.

    Have a fabulous day. ☺

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  6. I LOVE Scrabble.
    We have an ANCIENT one, I guess I should update it now that Broxton is getting older.

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  7. Scrabble is a lot of fun. We have not played it in a while, maybe we will do that for game night this week.

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  8. Everyone in our family LOVES Scrabble. It's such a fun game, and it's great for building vocabulary.

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  9. I love Scrabble. I remember playing it on family game night with my kids and my husband.

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  10. I too love this game and have played it many times over the years. I'm fair at best, but I do enjoy this game.

    Have a fabulous day. ☺

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  11. Scrabble is one of my favorite board games. It TOTALLY deserves its own day!

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  12. This is a great game to play with friends and family! I always love playing!

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  13. I love to sit down with the family for a game of scrabble. I'm not even that great at it, but I just love it.

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  14. I used to play scrabble with my nana when I was a little girl. I sure did learn to spell playing with her that's for sure! Can not wait to get my little ones playing.

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  15. Here is a fact that might shock you, I have never played scrabble before! I never knew that there was a scrabble day either!

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  16. Gosh. I have not played that in ages. I used to love to play.

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  17. Scrabble is probably one of my favorite board games. I even play the app versions sometimes!

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  18. I love Scrabble. It is such a classic and a great way to get kids thinking.

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  19. I am awful at scrabble - I blame my dyslexia, I can't spell for toffee.. lol x

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  20. I love Scrabble so much, enjoy playing it with the kids or with my boyfriend on a day we want to relax a bit! (I usually lose though)

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  21. Scrabble has been a favorite in my family since I was a kid and would play with my mom. We still play but now there are kids and grandkids playing too!

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  22. You know we have Scrabble downstairs in the basement....I think it is time we brought it up and dusted it off and had a bit of fun.

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  23. It has been years since I've played scrabble. We're going to have to dig out the board game for a family game night.

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  24. OMG my whole family always get together once at month to play it! what a fun time we have together

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  25. Scrabble is so interesting to play in my house, we always pick a theme it makes it so much more fun hehe

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  26. I haven't played scrabble in so many years. What a fun day, I need to pick it up so we can play! - Jeanine

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  27. Happy National Scrabble Day. I can't remember the last time I played. Maybe it was during the whole Words with Friends craze.

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  28. I haven't played Scrabble in a while! I'd like to have a board game night but we end up watching movies.

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  29. Some games like Scrabble never get old.

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  30. I've so many good memories with scrabble. I miss playing board games, and scrabble used to be a family favorite. I didn't know we have a day to celebrate it! It has given so much joy to many families.

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  31. Scrabble is my most favorite game. Like ever. I just wish I could find someone to play with me. My dad would always challenge us kids to weekend marathons. I think I got my love of the game from him ;)

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  32. LOVE this game! My husband beats me every time! I need to play it with our kids and use it in our homeschooling.

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  33. This is so interesting! It's been so long since I've played scrabble. Thanks for the tips!

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  34. I love Scrabble! I'm so glad my kids are getting old enough to really play this game with and enjoy it!

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  35. There is a day for everything. Where is this list of days? My mother used to kick my butt in Scrabble, I am such a horrible speller.

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  36. Scrabble is such a great game to play. My kids loved to play against me. It helped them learn how to spell.

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  37. I LOVE Scrabble! Any kind of word game is aces in my book, but Scrabble is my favorite!

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  38. Hasbro is a great company.
    Scrabble is such a classic...my father and mother used to play all the time.

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  39. Scrabble is such a fun game. We often play that when everyone is not busy. We like playing that.

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  40. Great tips! I also love playing Scrabble, though I'm a bit too competitive to play with my family. It's usually a game I pull out when I have friends over.

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  41. I had no idea it was National Scrabble Day. We love the game and it's fun seeing the kids try to make their own words because they don't have good letter tiles. LOL

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  42. I love Scrabble. That’s one of the games I have on my phone that I use to relax to fall asleep if I don’t have a book to read. Christopher doesn’t like to play because I know too many words. LOL!

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  43. Never know this celebration. Glad you shared it! Scrabble game is one of the games we used to do.

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  44. Scrabble is such a fun educational game. I have to play this with my oldest.

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  45. How cool! We love scrabble! Although I'm a day late I will get this game out today!

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  46. I love, love Scrabble. But no one at my house will play with me because I will whip them every time.

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  47. I haven't played Scrabble in years, I use to love it so much. I might need to convince my husband to play with me again.

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  48. I used to be really good at Scrabble :)

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  49. I love to play scrabble..one of my favorite games! The only problem is that I can get a little too competitive!

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  50. Would you believe that I've only ever played this online? lol I actually got a scrabble game from a thrift store a few years back but I never played it. I should get it out of the box and have a family Scrabble night!

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  51. Definitely keep a dictionary on hand! I love Scrabble!

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  52. Oh my I love Scrabble! So many great memories playing with my family.

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  53. oh... I wish I had read your post yesterday. We could have had a family scrabble day. My girls enjoy playing it and something being silly and inventing fake words.

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  54. I love Scrabble!! I had no idea there was a National Scrabble Day! Wish I had played that day...LOL!!

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  55. I love playing Scrabble..unless I'm playing against my brother. He's the master! We are in need of a family game night. This would be perfect.

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  56. This is seriously one of my favorite games to play. I had NO idea there was a National Scrabble Day but I absolutely love it!! Scrabble has been amazing for us this year, my daughter is learning how to read and we use the game to test her knowledge, teach her new words, and celebrate her victories. Such a great game for family game night!!

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  57. I miss playing scrabble. I remember the time when I was a little kid and my cousins and I play it all night long.

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  58. Dang it! How did I miss this? Scrabble is my favorite game.

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  59. I am the worst at vocabulary! I loose at Scrabble everytime... but I still love to play.

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  60. I love scrabble. It is such a fun game. I need to get it so that I can play with my kids.

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  61. I used to play Scrabble with my family during weekends. It was our fun activity until game consoles and social media came in the picture. :)

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  62. Scrabble is the only game that I can play everytime and not get bored with it.

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  63. I never knew there was a National Scrabble day. I love board games but hardly ever play!

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  64. I home school my daughter and one of her favorite things to do is play Scrabble using her spelling words! It's fun!

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  65. I am a huge fan of scrabble...been playing since I was 12 years old

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  66. We've always had a Scrabble game in our house. I haven't played lately...my family says I am too competitive.

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  67. I had no idea there was a National Scrabble Day! It's one of our favorite family games

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  68. I love this game but I play for fun only. I don't take it seriously and would most likely lose if this was a competitive thing.

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  69. I love Scrabble! I'm not very good at spelling words, but I love the challenge.

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  70. Scrabble is a lot of fun and is really a family game. I used to play that a lot when I was younger.

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  71. I have a great Scrabble game in storage somewhere in this house, lol (we moved not long ago.) It's from about 30 years ago, the one that is hard plastic & spins. I love that game!

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