I brought this assuming that it will help my preschooler learn spelling and begin putting words together but the junior side has words filled in with the pictures and she now looks at the pic to make up the word easily.. Doesnt help with reading.. I havent yet tried the older kids side of the toy yet.

I purchased this game for my 6yo son, as he was learning to read and begin to spell simple words. He also loves math, so I thought this game would just be a smaller version of the classic game with an easier (but still strategic) method of play with the scoring. But I was wrong.

The game is made very cheaply. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. But the letter "tiles" are made of cardboard, and they are so lightweight (as opposed to the wood tiles of classic Scrabble) that the slightest breeze (for example as someone walks by the table) upsets them. This frustrated my son to no end, and he gave up on this very quickly.

THe scoring directions are also disappointing. Every letter is worth 1 point, and you either have 1 side of the board with some words already on it, or a blank board (no double or triple point squares, etc). That takes the strategy right out of the game.

Finally the board was way too small, or the squares were too big. The result was a very limited number of total squares, so the board filled up very quickly, even when using 3 or 4 letter words. Some people complain about a game that never seems to end. Well, I don't particulary care for a game that is over in just 5 minutes.

I plan to get a regular Scrabble game and simplify the rules so he can grow into it.

I bought this game for my seven year old grandson's b'day. My grandson and his family have spent hours playing scrabble junior together. The added bonus to this product is it's "grow with me" capability. This game can be used on the beginners side as children learn the concept of spelling and then flips to a regular scrabble board when they become able to form their own words.

This is a great educational gift that the kids will have fun playing while building their vocabulary. Awesome to build spelling skills and a game you may remeber playing as a child.

[...] I got this at a garage sale for $[...], but would have paid more after knowing how much we play it. My son is 6 and this teaches him different words like television, arcade, bicycle, queen, etc. I agree with the other reviews about the letters, it would be nice if they were plastic tiles instead of cardboard. We only play the easy version for now, we've tried the blank side but he's not quite ready for that yet. This has gotten lots of play from us, and it's a game that I enjoy playing with him.
As far as it being so easy that the child never wins, it all depends on the letters you draw and how much the child is paying attention to the board. I don't help him anymore and as long as he draws the right letters to finish the words and pays attention to the board, he has beat me several times.
I would defintely recommend this game for any child learning letters and words. It's a lot of fun for both child and adult!