This game is certainly an educational game and it’s not really disguised as anything else.  But it’s not a drudgery or a bore, by any means.

 

 

Marie’s Words is a vocabulary building game that can be played in several different ways.  It can be used alone or it can be played as a game with several variations.

I’m literally just now seeing that the website suggests this as a part of their fourth grade curriculum set.  Maybe your fourth graders would be ready for these words, but I know my fourth graders would not have been.  Honestly, the majority of the words listed on the cards are a challenge for my middle schoolers.  (Some are words I rarely see or use in conversations.)

It’s a great way to build and practice a great vocabulary however.

Each card features a word and a picture helping to define that word on one side.

 

 

 

The opposite side has the word’s definition as well as synonyms and antonyms.

 

 

This would be a good game to keep near your kitchen table and to use at meal times.  A few words each day, or a few rounds every few days, could really aid your entire family’s vocabulary.

With even relatively frequent use of the word cards, I think you’ll begin to hear these words more often and see them in your own reading and in the reading your children complete.  Which means, the same words will appear in your conversations within your own family as well.

There are over 500 cards (it’s kind of a heavy box) and the words have been taken from the SAT test.

The creators of the card have already punched holes in the corners of each card so if you are a fan of placing the cards in giant rings, you can do that too.  (Of course you’ll need several rings because who wants a gigantic ring of over 500 cards in one stack?)

I think this game is definitely a keeper for our family.

 

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