Wordsearch Junior from Drumond Park ~ age 4+ Game Review

Wordsearch Junior is a reworking of the classic Wordsearch by Drumond Park to make it accessible to a younger audience. The game is really simple and very quick to understand and is, as it suggests, competitive word searching.  I have to say I really wasn't sure at all how this would work, but as soon as I saw it I was impressed.

The playing surface is made up from 3 plastic pieces that are engineered to fit together perfectly. The plastic is actually a lot stronger than it first looks, and not flimsy or brittle.

Specially shaped cards are placed within the construction, that turn along with the transparent dimpled surface and reveal the word or picture combination that needs to be found.

There are 3 different levels of difficulty denoted by the 3 different colours of card -

• Blue ~ picture pattern cards for those who are not yet readers. 
• Red ~ picture hint cards give a picture clue but still require the player to look for the right word
• Green ~ word-only cards that have no pictures and encourage independent reading

The game is brilliant for encouraging new readers to look for patterns and logic among the letters. It requires good concentration and reasoning skills. Without realising it the players learn to recognise word formation and familiarise themselves with new words and syllables.

When a player is the first to spot the revealed word or pattern then they can cover the corresponding letters or pictures with their counters, even replacing an opponents previous counters if necessary. The winner is the person who has most counters on the board when all of the words or patterns have been covered. If someone runs out of counters then they instantly win and the game is over.

Wordsearch Junior has a suggested age range of 4+ and I think that's exactly right.

My exactly 5 year old thinks it is a brilliant game and is eager to lap it all up. He loves playing with the picture hint cards because he knows he's stretching himself, but he can do it. He can only actually spell a couple of the words outside the game, but within it he can look and work out how long the word is and where all the sounds are.

My 3 1/2 year old wants to play the picture pattern game but he's finding it incredibly hard to remember the 3 picture pattern because his brain just isn't mature enough yet. This is really helping him and each time he tries he gives it a better shot. I'm absolutely certain that within a couple of weeks he'll be able to do it, and that new skill will help him in many ways aside from within this game.

Wordsearch Junior has an RRP of £18.99 and I think that's a very fair price. It is a good game that will facilitate your child's learning while they have fun and because it has different ability levels it will last them a few years. Drumond Park games are available from a range of stockists including larger toy shops, supermarkets, Argos and Debenhams.

My 5 year old really likes this game, he just wants to find the words and is really keen to try all of the cards. It's really captured his attention and enthusiasm.

We were sent a copy of Wordsearch Junior to review