Scrabble Junior is a children's game based on the classic Scrabble board game. The game, which is made by Hasbro, is designed for players ages five years and older. The game requires a minimum of two players and allows a maximum of four. Scrabble Junior is intended to give children a fun way to apply their reading and spelling lessons.
Getting Started
Lay the game board out flat before the participants, with the side with letters and pictures on the squares facing up. The letters on the board spell out words. Arrange the 44 scoring chips in a pile. Set the 101 letter tiles face-down together and mix them up. Have each player draw seven letter tiles and place them face-up in view of the other players. Select a player to go first.
Player Turns
Each player lays down two letters per turn, placing a letter on one of the matching letters on the board. After each full turn, players pull two letter tiles and add them to their lineup. The player with the first turn of the game must place letters either on the first two letters of the same word or on the first letters of two different words. For subsequent turns, players can either put each tile on the first letter of a word or play on the next open letter of a word that has already been started.
Scoring
Players score when they complete one of the words, providing the last letter in the spelling-order sequence. A player that completes a word picks up a scoring chip. If a player completes two words with a single tile, he gets two scoring chips. The game ends when all of the tiles have been placed on the board. The player with the most scoring chips wins.
Strategy and Restrictions
Because players can see their opponents' letters, they can choose to avoid setting opponents up to finish a word. However, players are required to play two tiles if there are matching letters on the board for those tiles. If players cannot play one of their tiles, they must draw a new one. If they cannot player either of their tiles, they must exchange two of their tiles for two new ones.