How to Play Hangman

Players try to guess a word by filling in the blanks. Each incorrect guess brings you closer to being "hanged."

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Children's Dictionaries
• Chairs
• Tables
• Paper And Pencils

1. Play this two-player game to help children sharpen their spelling and word-decoding skills.

2. Start the game by having one person choose a word or phrase that the other player knows how to spell.

3. Place one dash on the bottom of a piece of paper for each letter of the word or words chosen. Leave a space between words.

4. Draw a "gallows" at the top of the paper - draw a horizontal line at the bottom, a vertical line coming up out of its center, and then a short line off to the right at the top (so that you now have an upside-down "L" on the horizontal line). Draw a short vertical line off the end of the top line - this is your "noose."

5. Have the other player guess one letter at a time - or he or she can use a turn to guess the entire word or words.

6. Fill in the letter (everywhere it appears) on the appropriate dash (or dashes) each time the person guesses correctly.

7. Add one body part to the drawing each time the letter chosen is not in the word. Begin by drawing a head attached to the short vertical line (the "noose"). Add eyes, ears, nose, hair, body, legs, and arms.

8. Know that if the drawing of the person is completed before the word or words are guessed, the guessing player loses. If the player figures out the word or words first, he or she wins.

Tips & Warnings

• When playing with younger children, it is helpful to write the alphabet across the bottom of the page and cross out letters as they are guessed. Children sometimes forget what they have guessed and may not remember all the letters in the alphabet.

• You may also wish to make your drawings very elaborate - one ear at a time, a neck, a belly button - so that children will have a lot of guesses before losing.