You would think that getting the right spelling wouldn’t be important enough to warrant competitions that are fought tooth and nail. In fact, Spelling Bee contests are not only keenly fought in many English speaking countries but also broadcasted live in some just like a regular sports event.
That proves something as simple as getting the spelling right has enough of crowd pulling power. Though children form the main focus group, a lot of the competitions are open for adults too. Think of spelling tests as a necessary requirement to get the language right. Or think of them as brain exercises. Either way, they are an important part of our vocabulary training.
The next Scripps National Spelling Bee is still a few months away in the United States. Other countries also will begin their own. Let these ten spelling bee game sites help to hone your child’s spelling skills.
Visual Thesaurus Spelling Bee
The well known online word app throws two challenges – a Tournament Spelling Bee and the Community Spelling Bees. In the former, your goal is to get as many right spellings you can to move up the leaderboard. It is challenging because the words also adapt to your performance. You will hear the recording of the word and see its definition before you guess the right spelling. As the test is adaptive, it is suitable for all age groups and skill levels. In the Community Spelling Bee challenge, you can do the same thing but on word lists created by subscribed members.
The Times Spelling Bee
You can have a feel of a real world Spelling Bee competition on this U.K. based site. The Times also hosts the U.K. edition of Spelling Bee (The Times Spelling Bee). The Spelling Bee Training Area is a bit unforgiving as one mistake gets you the boot. If you do well here, try out the Spelling Challenge and any of its three levels. Then in Head to Head you can invite a friend and have a face-off. Round it off with more word workouts available on the website.
Tumble Bees
The Pogo.com word game takes your help to build a honeycomb for the bees with the rightly spelled words. Each word you make correctly will fill the honey pot with honey. You can sign up for free or play it as a guest. As a reward you get tokens.
BigIQKids
The free spelling game gives your child a bit of spelling practice. The Spelling Program uses word lists to simulate a live word test and to help the child practice. You can also create your own word lists. Then for a spot of fun, you and the whole family can take part in the Spelling Game Contests on the site which is playable by grade level (with one for adults).
Catch the Spelling
Hone your spelling and vocabulary skills on the lineup of word tests. It is fun too as you have to catch the letters to spell the word given on top of the screen. Other catching exercises like Voice of America (VOA) Special English Nouns or the ones that cover other word categories.
Spin and Spell
This is a simple enough Flash game where a word has to be spelt correctly by looking at a picture. You have to spell it out by ‘dialing’ a wheel and selecting the right letter. This game can be played alone or with a friend. The simplicity of this game makes it just right for the very early graders.
Spelling Bee Games (TVO Kids)
The bee makes a return and claps along as you go through 25 words. It’s just ‘buzzerific’ if you manage to get them right. For a few pointers on how to play the game with your child, read the instructions for parents.
YouTube Interactive Spelling Bee
We have covered this unique interactive spelling bee challenge in Angela’s excellent post on The Top 10 Interactive YouTube Games. Christy Carlson Romano gives you 100 words from 20 different categories and you get to help the contestants by clicking one among three choices on the screen. The interactive spelling bee game is really fun as it is laced with humor.
Miss Spell’s Class
You can go for the $0.99 iPhone app or be a Scrooge and play it online for free. Either way it’s a boost for your spelling prowess. The 20 word challenge tests both your speed and accuracy as you have to decide which of the words in the list are misspelt. The word practice is pretty handy for a Spelling Bee contest as the lists generally have the more commonly misspelled words on Dictionary.com.
Merriam Webster’s Spell It
This site could be your authoritative practice area as it is a collaboration with the Scripps National Spelling Bee. The study site gives you 1150 words, divided into sections by language of origin. The site says that – studying language of origin will enable you to learn and remember several important rules, tips, and guidelines for successfully spelling words in English. The site is not actually a game but a study course for acing the Spelling Bee competitions.
The seriousness with which these websites approach spellings makes one realize that spellings are not only for textbooks and school graders. The importance of language and words can be gauged from the numerous word apps on the web. In fact, check out these two Android apps too if you have a fetish for getting your spellings right. And if things get too wordy, learn a bit more and laugh with this Spelling Bee YouTube compilation via ESPN.
Image credit: Shutterstock
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