Parents can help their child or children practice spelling skills with a sweet game using cookies and icing. Purchase graham crackers, chocolate-covered graham crackers, shortbread cookies, or any other square or rectangular cookie. Tubes of icing in different colors add brightness to the finished game while identifying players.
Decorating Cookies with Letters
Since writing with a tube of icing is different from writing with a pen or pencil, have the children practice writing a few letters. Use a fine-point icing tip. Some children may need an adult or another player to squeeze the tube of icing while they guide the tip to write.
For the game, children will write the letters they need as they play the game, one letter on each cookie. Unlike Scrabble, they will not select tiles that already have the letters printed on them.
Practicing Spelling with Scrabble
This activity is similar to the popular game, although without the pre-printed tiles or point system. Two to four individuals can play the game. One player starts the pattern by writing out a word, placing one letter on each cookie tile. Parents can select a theme for the game – things in nature, animals, objects around the house, or words on a spelling list.
Use a cookie sheet or clean piece of paper for players to place the cookies. The starting player sets down the cookie tiles, spelling out a word either horizontally or vertically. The next player selects a word to add off one of the letters in the first word. For example, if the first player wrote the word “nest” vertically, the second player can add the word “twigs” horizontally off the “t” in the word nest. Players can also add words where letters in the middle of the word overlap.
Players take turns writing letters with icing on the cookies and setting the letters onto the game grid. Parents and players can make a point system of their own creation or use the Scrabble point system for individual letters. Of course, every player can win at the end of the game by eating the cookies.
Create a Crossword Puzzle Cake
Turn this game into a cake decoration. Frost a 9”x13” cake. Set cookies over the top of the cake. Use words connected to the celebratory reason for the cake – a birthday, holiday, etc. When players can no longer add words to the cake, add dabs of different color icing to the cookies and spread with a knife. Use these pieces to fill in the spaces between the words.
Children can decorate cookies as tiles for a game of Scrabble or set the cookies down in a crossword puzzle design. With either activity, children can practicing their spelling skills and end the game with a tasty treat.
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