Using Boggle and Boggle Junior in Your Homeschool

Word games are more than just fun, they can be powerful tools for building literacy, critical thinking, and family connection. Two classic favorites, Boggle and Boggle Junior, can be easily adapted into your homeschool routine to support learners of different ages.

Why Word Games Work in Homeschooling

Games like Boggle encourage children to:

• Build and reinforce vocabulary
• Strengthen spelling skills
• Practice word recognition and phonics
• Develop pattern recognition and problem-solving
• Learn to think quickly and creatively under time pressure

And best of all? They don’t feel like “schoolwork,” even though kids are practicing essential language skills.

Boggle Junior

Boggle Junior is perfect for preschool and early elementary students who are just beginning their reading journey. The game uses picture cards and letter cubes to help kids:

• Match letters to form words
• Strengthen letter recognition
• Begin connecting sounds to symbols
• Gain confidence as early readers

Homeschool ideas for Boggle Junior:

• Play cooperatively by helping your child sound out words together.
• Let child independently use the game and self check themselves
• Add your own homemade cards with sight words, family names, or thematic vocabulary from your current unit study. (printable and template below!)
• Have the students look through the cards and pick their own words to spell
• Encourage them to handwrite the words after they spell them
• Use the letter dice separately. (this can also be done with regular boggle dice)
  • Roll one of the dice and think of a word that starts with the letter
  • Roll one of the dice and locate the letter on an alphabet chart
  • Roll one of the dice and write that letter
  • Roll a few of the dice and see if you can make a word

Things to Know:

• It uses all uppercase letters and has a line below each letter to let the learner know which way it goes
• Word Cards: Blue are 3 letter words, red are 4 letter
• There is a small flap that allows you to hide the spelling of the word so that the learner can spell the word and then check it

Boggle for Older Kids

Classic Boggle is best suited for upper elementary through high school. Players shake the letter cube grid, set a timer, and race to find as many words as possible. It’s fast-paced and naturally engaging, while reinforcing important literacy skills.

Homeschool ideas for Boggle:

• You don’t have to play by the traditional rules.
  • Skip the timer if it stresses your learner out
  • The letters don’t need to connect for learners just figuring out spelling
  • Focus on word families by picking an ending (e.g. there’s an A and a T) and then figuring out together what first letter you can add.
  • Nonsense words are fine if you can spell them with phonics rules
• Focus on vocabulary development by asking kids to define or use in context a few of their found words.
• Writing boggle words can be sneaky handwriting practice, but you can also let kids type the words on the computer (I’d disable spell check for more of a challenge)
• Use Boggle as a “warm-up” activity before language arts lessons.
• Adapt difficulty by setting different time limits or requiring words of a minimum length (e.g. only words 4+ letters count).

Family Fun and Connection

Because Boggle is simple and quick, it makes an excellent family game night choice. Younger learners can play Boggle Junior alongside parents while older kids play the classic version. This keeps the whole family engaged in word play together.

Free Printable and Template for Boggle Jr.

Make your own customized cards to go with the game! There is a pdf below, but you can also use this template in Canva. You must be logged in, but you can have a free account!

Template Link

Final Thoughts

Whether you’re working on phonics with a kindergartener or vocabulary expansion with a middle schooler, Boggle and Boggle Junior are inexpensive, reusable tools that make literacy practice feel like play. Both of our copies were purchased at thrift stores for under $5! They’re easy to adapt for different ages, and they naturally foster creativity, focus, and critical thinking, skills every homeschool family values.