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Words Don’t Always Come Easily
April 13th is National Scrabble Day. With all that is going on around us these days, Random National Holidays seem especially trivial. In fact, I almost crossed this blog post off the list. But who knows? Maybe a silly holiday is exactly what we need. So I decided to do a little research on the classic game. First thing I learned? Scrabble is a game that came out of the great depression. You’ve got to be kidding me! Again – almost crossed it off the list. Something that came out of economic hardship doesn’t seem like a topic to focus on right now. And yet, as I skimmed through the research, I saw the phrase “Words don’t always come easily…” and knew I should continue writing this post.
As grandparents we have an opportunity to speak from our years of experience about the good that can come from disruptions in life. I’ll readily admit that those conversations with out grandkids may not happen in the middle of a board game, but I also believe that time spent playing together provides the foundation for those conversations to occur. So let’s celebrate! We invite you to share the history behind one of America’s favorite word games with your family before jumping into your own game time. It is a story of perseverance that I found quite encouraging!
The History of Scrabble – A Story of Perseverance
Scrabble is owned by three out of every five American households and is played around the world, but it’s humble beginnings gave no indication of the success that was coming.
The game was created by an out of work architect named Alfred Mosher Butts in 1933. His goal? To lift the spirits of millions of people in the midst of The Great Depression. HIs game was originally called Lexiko, followed by Criss Cross Words.
The game, not unlike the economy in the 1930’s, was struggling, and many established game manufacturers rejected the game. Then Alfred met James Brunot, who was a game loving entrepreneur. Together they revised the game’s rules and design, and eventually renamed it Scrabble.
Early production of scrabble was accomplished in a rented abandoned schoolhouse, where 12 games an hour were produced by stamping letters on wooden tiles, one by one. The payoff? In the first four years, 2400 sets of the game were produced, but $450 was lost. It wasn’t until early in the 1950s when legend states that a major department store president discovered the game during a vacation and ordered them for his store. In fact the story goes on to say they were so popular that they were rationed to stores around the country!
What Can You Do With The Tiles In Front of You – Stay the Course
Who knew? So as we sit and look at our tiles, especially when we look down and have an x,d,c,a,a,q,a in front of us, we recognize that yep, words can be hard – in games and in life. Sometimes it seems that being at a distance fron our grandkids can make conversations that much harder. But this is when we need to stay the course. Keep talking, time after time, even if it feels like your conversations are the equivalent of a bunch of two letter words that don’t add up to much. Because your words over time will help shape and influence how they view the world as they grow up!
Let’s Have a Little Scrabble FUN
Virtual Scrabble Options
Now…let’s talk about some ways to celebrate National Scrabble Day! There’s nothing like playing the game in person, but since that isn’t an option, you can check out Scrabble Go on Facebook. Scrabble Go is a recent transition from the Hasbro version of the traditional game that was previously on Facebook.. For complete transparency, we have not used this particular version, but 24,000 people have given it 4.5 stars, so it may be worth checking out.
If you haven’t played it yet, Words With Friends is a game you can download from the app store and is great for older grandkids. Create your own usernames and then take turns creating words in a crossword puzzle style that is very similar to Scrabble. This version of the game doesn’t involve extended amounts of time, but can be played throughout the day as participants have time to take their turn. Don’t underestimate the value that these brief moments can have in your relationship with your grandkids.
Early Childhood Adaptations
For preschoolers and early elementary kids, you can simply use the tiles without playing the actual game. That’s what I’ll be doing with my granddaughter. If both families have the game, everyone can get out their tiles. If tiles aren’t available, we’ve got you covered with a mini set of letters you can print and cut out.
While videochatting with preschoolers (and with a bit of help from their grownups), you can spread just a few of the tiles in front of you. and then hold them up one at a time. They can identify the tiles, or find the matching tile in front of them. Our granddaughter loves to declare who the letters ‘belong’ to. ‘M’ belong to Morgan. ‘P’ belongs to Papa.
Elementary Adaptations
- Take turns creating simple words with the letters in front of you.
- Alphabetize the tiles.
- Practice spelling words from school using the tiles.
- Set a timer and see how many words each of you can make in a set amount of time.
Our belief is that as you continue to connect in these small ways, that your presence in your grandkids lives over time will lead to some indescribable moments. Yes, words can be hard, and sometimes that’s an incredibly good thing!
For more on “words” check out our post Grandparents as Reconcilers!
