Boggle

Setup

If you’re lucky enough to have sets of the official Boggle game, students can play in small groups. But the easiest method is to play as a class using our online Word Square game (projector and Internet required). This interactive tool allows you to generate letters, time the students, automatically calculate word scores, and track individual scores.

If you don’t have a projector/Internet, you could also just draw a 4×4 grid on the board yourself. Fill it with letters you make up yourself, elicit them from students, or make a copy of our game beforehand. Circle two of the letters.

Students can compete as individuals or in pairs, or just work on a puzzle alone.

Game

1. Project/draw the grid of letters on the board.
2. Students have two, three or five minutes to find as many words as they can (minimum three letters). Words can be formed by connecting letters in order horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.
3. At the end of the time, elicit acceptable words from the class and write them on the board. Review the vocabulary as you go.
4. Students calculate their scores as shown below (you can ask them to swap papers if you like). When a word includes a circled letter, the score for that word is doubled (two circled letters = quadrupled).
5. Repeat the process for future rounds.
6. The winning student/pair is that which has the highest score after a predefined number of rounds (e.g. one or three) or the first to reach a predefined score (e.g. fifty or one hundred).

Boggle ESL Game Scoring

Three or four-letter words: One point
Five-letter words: Two points
Six-letter words: Three points
Seven-letter words: Five points
Eight (plus)-letter words: Eleven points

Target Language

Play the Boggle ESL game for a quick warmer or time-filler with intermediate or advanced students. You can vary the required time by varying the number of rounds. Our online Word Square game allows you to quickly generate new sets of letters for new rounds.

For a similar warmer, try Word Wheel.