Spelling Bee
Putting letters in order until they make a word
How it plays
A word appears at the top and its letters are scattered below. Your child drags them into the empty slots to build the word. Choose to keep the word on screen as a guide, or have it fade away after a few seconds so they have to hold it in mind.
What it's for
Putting letters in order until they make a word. It adapts as your child plays: after a few rounds that go well it steps up a little, and after a couple of hard ones it quietly steps back. The level number only ever goes up. You can also set it up on the first screen: “How much help?”.
There is no score to lose and no way to fail. A wrong move is met with a gentle nudge, and a level ends when it's won.
Away from the screen: Fridge words
About two minutes, with things most homes have.
- Pick a short word from the game, like sun.
- Say it slowly together: s … u … n.
- Make it with fridge letters, bottle caps with letters on, or letters written on paper.
Three questions to ask while they play
- What sound does this word start with?
- What sound comes next?
- Can you say the whole word?
Play together
Things to say or ask
- Say the word slowly. What sound do you hear first?
- Which letter comes next?
- You fixed it yourself. That's what spellers do.
Taking turns on one device: Take a word each. The other player says the word slowly to help, but doesn't touch.
Talk-about cards: a question a day for a week, for the car or the dinner table. Print them, or read them from your phone.
If they find it hard
On the first screen, choose "Show me the word", or tap "Grown-ups: change the words" and type in words your child knows. Or try Blend It, Bandicoot first: hearing the sounds of a word before building it.
A sheet to print
One A4 page, in black and white or colour.
From two to eight
Big Steps: Longer, two-syllable words: wombat, picnic, basket. For seven- and eight-year-olds: AC9E1LY13 (spell one- and two-syllable words with common letter patterns).
Switch Tiny Steps or Big Steps on in Who's playing?, on the grown-ups' page.
What it practises
- Spelling short words. Putting the letters of a word in order.
AC9EFLY13 (English, Foundation); AC9EFLY12 (English, Foundation); AC9E1LY13 (English, Year 1) - Holding something in mind. Remembering a word or a pattern for a moment while you use it.
EYLF 4.2 (Early Years Learning Framework V2.0) - New words. Meeting and using everyday words.
AC9EFLA08 (English, Foundation); EYLF 5.1 (Early Years Learning Framework V2.0)
The codes are from the Early Years Learning Framework V2.0 (for children from birth to five) and the Australian Curriculum v9 (Foundation to Year 2). Each links to the official wording. Every skill, and the games for it.
What it costs, and what we collect
Nothing, and nothing. There is no account, no advertising and no tracking of any kind. Which games have been played is remembered on your own device and is never sent anywhere. The full version is here, and it's short.
Where it lives
Spelling Bee lives in The Quiet Deep — words and spelling. It works on a phone, a tablet or a classroom screen, and once it's been opened it keeps working with no signal at all.
Updated