G'day Fellow Writer,

December, the month of road trips, festive excitement, shopping queues and over energetic children (and maybe adults too). All of which tends to lead to limited words on the page, unless of course you have deadlines looming.

So here, to help you overcome writing withdrawal, are a variety of fun, paperless, word games that you can play anywhere, any time. Plus they can be a great way to amuse the rest of the family.

Head to Tail
Select a topic that appeals, and the first person calls out a word relating to it. The second person then calls out a relevant word that starts with the last letter of the first player’s word. The third person then calls out a topical word starting with the last letter of the word chosen by the second player, and so the game continues. Themes might be something like Christmas, travel, food, sport, or clothes. Watch out though, no repeating words.

I Spy
Yes, a good old-fashioned game that has truly stood the test of time. One person looks around and says the first letter of something they see. Everybody else takes it in turns to guess what the item is. The winner gets to select the next word.

Random word
A sometimes boisterous game that basically involves all the players taking it in turns to call out a word relating to the same topic (ie: foods, same colour, characters, books, countries). But wait there’s more… each word called out has to be alphabetically. For example, if the topic was food the words might be apple, broccoli, carrot, donut…

Number plates
My personal favourite… when you’re out in the car, take a look at the number plates of the cars around you and make up phrases from the letters included on them. For example if the letters are THM you could come up with, Total Hair Makeover, The Hairy Mammoth, Truly Horrible Marshmallows, Tomorrow Has Mysteries, Time Has Meaning.

Odd one out
This game might take a little more thinking, and, in fact, can be as tricky as you like. The first player lists 3 or 4 items, all of which except one fit together. The other player then has to guess which one doesn’t fit. An example might be dog, cat, fish, elephant, leading to the thought that while all are animals an elephant isn’t a traditional pet, so is therefore the odd one out. Another example could just as easily be apple, orange, house (I’ll let you guess which one is the odd one out in that group).

What’s better?
A simple game that can cause much laughter - especially if the responses are instantaneous rather than thought out - and can also be extremely helpful if you’re still wondering what to get somebody for Christmas. Each player takes it in turn to ask which of two items another play would prefer. For example: coffee or hot chocolate? Forest or beach? This game works best with two players but can also work well with a small group.

Word Tennis
As you might guess this game involves rhythmically toing and froing of words, in fact words that start the same or finish the same (at least phonetically). Before starting players select a sound, perhaps sh, I, or d, and every word called out has to start with that sound. Alternatively, a sound that each word ends with can be selected. There are no restrictions on which words can be used, they can be on any topic or of any length, although they may need to be child-friendly depending on the age of players.

I went to market and bought
Another oldie, but goodie, it’s also great game for improving the memory. Each player takes it in turn to add an item to the list of things bought at an imaginary market. For example, the first player might say, ‘I went to the market and bought a pie.’ The second player might then say, ‘I went to the market and bought a pie and a pony.’ The third player would then repeat the phrase and add their own item. The game continues until the list of goods gets too unwieldy for players to remember.

Well, there you have it, a short collection of word games to keep you inspired, sane and smiling. Let me know which one is your favourite or if I’ve missed off one you think I should have included.

Wishing you a wonderful, word-full Christmas.

Elizabeth Bezant

(Writer & Skillshare Tutor)
www.writingwithelizabeth.com

Elizabeth Bezant

Writer and Writing Coach

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