Last week, when my daughter was visiting my parents, she learned how to play Scrabble. The real thing. The board game.
We used to play Scrabble all the time when I was a kid. As I remember it, we didn't exactly follow the rules word-for-word. I think in Scrabble you can't look a word up in the dictionary unless you've already played it and someone else challenges it. But, we had the Official Scrabble Dictionary, as well as one other dictionary or two, and we often looked up words before we played them. I think the family rule was that you had to have a word in mind before you started looking in the dictionary. They way I see it now, it was a learning experience for us.
I'm quite sure that when we weren't playing, my little brother was studying that Scrabble dictionary, memorizing all the "Q" words that don't require a "U."
We also played Monopoly, Trouble, Yahtzee, Which Witch? and other board games, but Scrabble was our mainstay.
I'm glad my daughter learned to play. Somewhere in the top of her closet is a Scrabble game. I think we'll get it out and play a game or two.
What was/is your favorite board game? Why? Did you always follow the rules? Did you have any special family rules you followed?
Write a letter about your favorite board game. Maybe even invite your letter's recipient over to play a game.
Letter writing topic for July 24, 2010
"The real thing. The board game."
ReplyDeleteIs there a fake Scrabble? Or are you saying the video games don't count?
My family didn't play a lot of games together, but I frequently wanted my mom and sisters (and when possible, my grandmother) to play board games with me, in particular, Clue and the Donkey Kong board game (the DK Board Game had better graphics at the time anyways!)
As time went on, I still always found an appreciation for the game Clue. My wife and I eventually started playing Scrabble too, and we've had a lot of fun with that. We also bend the rules slightly, as you say, to make it a bit more of a learning experience. We have the full-size game somewhere, but we've taken a liking to our travel Scrabble game a bit more lately.
Maybe one day my kid(s) will be able to enjoy Clue and Scrabble as much as I did -- or maybe they'll end up liking something else all together!