My husband grew up in a household where his mom and dad both were avid readers and his sisters were constantly challenging one another to cutthroat games of Scrabble. Only a few souls have the bragging rights of having beaten my mother-in-law. It's the stuff of family legend!

I had never played a game of Scrabble in my life until we were married, and it took me 10 years to learn the strategy well enough to finally beat my husband. It was a sweet victory for sure, and it hasn't happened since.

Growing up in an environment where word games and books were a genuine point of connection and family bonding just wires people differently. 

Board games that focus on literacy build confidence and vocabulary in a natural, low-pressure way (well, sometimes low pressure depending on how competitive Grandma is).

In our own home, each of our children remembers the day they beat Dad in Scrabble...I won't say who the reigning champion is; however, I can say my husband has been dethroned as Scrabble King.

Even though Scrabble strategy is not my forte—I love words! I actually read dictionaries and encyclopedias for fun and do word games almost daily. I prefer the old-fashioned word searches and crossword puzzles to the app-based games because I am basically a 40-something granny without grandkids.

I always keep one in my purse along with a pocket size notebook and a set of UNO cards. Even though it has nothing at all to do with literacy, as a side note, if we are out at a restaurant waiting, my family knows those UNO cards are coming out every time.

If you would like to add some literacy games into your family game night, here are some of our favorites:

Scrabble (play in teams for young ones who frustrate easily)

Scrabble Jr.

Boggle

Boggle Jr.

Banangrams 

Zingo 

Our Favorite non-literacy based games but is better than staring at phones:

UNO

Dutch Blitz

Settlers of Catan

Rummikub 

Chess