BananagramsPlaying with children
Updated September 4, 2026 · 2 min read
For a six-year-old child, the options on the shelf include Word-a-Melon, Gurms, Cobra Paw, Appletters, and My First Bananagrams, depending on whether you want turns, letter grids, or no spelling at all.
- A table with mixed ages
- Before a child can spell much
- Building from a word you already have
- Using a set in a classroom
- Which one by age
The short version
- Pick Appletters or Word-a-Melon if you prefer taking turns around the table.
- Choose Gurms or Cobra Paw to play without spelling any words.
- Try My First Bananagrams for lowercase letters and letter pairs starting at age 4.
- Check the age label on the box before moving to classic Bananagrams races at age 7.
Games on the shelf match different ages and styles of play. Word-a-Melon is for 2 to 4 players ages 6 and up, lasting about 20 minutes with hidden letters and memory. Gurms suits 2 to 4 players ages 6 and up for 20 minutes with no spelling, where players match color and symbol to score. Cobra Paw needs no letters, fits 2 to 6 players ages 6 and up, and runs 15 minutes as players snatch stones matching two rolled dice.
Other choices welcome players younger than six. Appletters is for 1 to 4 players ages 5 and up, running about 20 minutes in turns as players build a single word worm on the table. My First Bananagrams uses lowercase letters and thirteen letter-pair tiles, accommodating 1 to 4 players ages 4 and up in a 30-minute race.
The classic racing games are listed for ages 7 and up, where everyone builds personal grids at once without turns. In those games, 1 to 4 players draw 21 tiles each, calling Split to start, Peel for fresh tiles, Dump to swap one tile for three, and Bananas to win when the bunch holds fewer tiles than there are players and a grid is completed.
Structure sets these games apart. Word-a-Melon, Appletters, Gurms, and The Furglars use turns. Word-a-Melon, Gurms, The Furglars, Spiky Dastards, and Cobra Paw tally scores or items at the end to settle the winner. The classic racing titles use neither turns nor scores.
The mistake to avoid
The mistake is to assume every game on the shelf shares the same racing rules. Four of them use turns, and five count items or scores at the finish.
Questions that keep coming up
Which games require no reading or spelling?
Gurms, Cobra Paw, The Furglars, and Spiky Dastards require no spelling.
Which games are played in turns?
Word-a-Melon, Appletters, Gurms, and The Furglars are played in turns around the table.
When does the classic racing game end?
A classic race concludes after a player with an empty hand calls Bananas at the point where too few tiles remain for another Peel.
Boxes that fit younger hands
We make these with the youngest player in mind, so nobody at the table sits out while the grown-ups spell.
