We recently picked up Bananagrams and are wondering why we didn’t join in on the fun sooner! I’ve never been a big Scrabble fan, partly because of the game’s slow pace. But this variation on the classic word game is a “bunch” of fun! Although Bananagrams doesn’t claim to be a form of Scrabble, it does contain some of the essential elements of the game — forming words using letter tiles and arranging them in crossword fashion. From there it takes off… fast! All players play independently at the same time, and that’s what keeps the pace going. No board is necessary — a table or floor space is all you need. Each player starts out choosing 21 tiles/letters (the “bunch”) and can immediately begin forming words and arranging them (and constantly re-arranging them if necessary), until his/her letters are used up. If you can’t use a letter, then you must say “Dump,” and discard that letter, taking 3 letters in return. But the game doesn’t end there. Once a player’s original 21 tiles are used, he/she must say “Peel,” and take a tile from the “bunch” of leftover tiles. At that time, all other players must also take a tile. This continues until there are fewer tiles in the “bunch” than there are players. The fact that the game is so portable — simply a bunch of small letter tiles in a canvas banana shaped bag — makes it easy to bring anywhere. And the fast, free-form style enables children to participate. Our kids are practicing their spelling, and at the same time, we’re all enjoying a fun game together. Invented by a family spanning three generations, it’s no wonder that Bananagrams is such a fantastic intergenerational activity!