Hangman is a great spelling game because it encourages players to sound out the spelling of words. The game can be played on the board or on paper. If you are using the game in a classroom, use the board so that everyone can participate. The game is played by drawing a a "pole" that looks like the number seven. Draw a short vertical line that is attached to the horizontal line that forms the number seven. The purpose of the pole is to hang a man. After you have drawn the pole, think of a word or phrase that you want the student to spell. Beneath the pole, draw a blank to represent each letter of the word or phrase you have in mind. Underneath the blanks write the "hint." For example, a person, place, or thing. Allow the speller to guess the letters that should go in the blanks to form the word or phrase. As the speller guesses at the letters, he will try to sound out the word to get the answer. For every letter she mentions that is not a part of the word, draw a body part on the number seven. For example, for the first wrong answer, you draw a head. For the second wrong answer, you draw a long line that represents the body. More wrong answers equals more body parts, one arm, the second arm, one leg and then the second leg. After all six parts of the body have been formed, or six wrong answers, the speller loses the game and the answer is revealed.
Crossword puzzles can be used as a single worksheet or presented as a crossword puzzle book. The crossword puzzles encourage the player to figure out spellings by looking at intersecting letters. Crossword puzzles are made by assigning numbers to questions. There should be numbers going down and numbers going across. For example, for "1 down" the hint can be "a red fruit." For "1 across" the hint can be "a huge monkey." After assigning a number to the question, draw a row of connected boxes. There should be one box to represent each letter of the answer. For "1 down" the answer is "apple." You must draw five blank squares going down to represent the word. For "1 across" the answer is "ape." There is already one box representing the letter "A" because it intersects with "1 down." Add two more boxes going across.
Scrabble is similar to crossword puzzles. With scrabble, the players create their own words by using wooden blocks on a board. Each of the wooden blocks contain one of the 26 letters of the alphabet. The goal of the game is to create new words by attaching a letter, or wooden block, to other letters that are already on the board.