Learning games for 7 and 8 year olds

At 7 and 8, children spell longer words. The Big words cards are for them today, and real arcade games that teach, for ages 7 to 11, are on the way.

Play Spell the Picture, age 7 and 8

The age 7 and 8 cards: Big words

The age 7 to 8 deck, Big words, has 100 cards. It starts with bossy r words, where the r changes the vowel (star, corn, bird, turtle), then animals, food and things with two or more syllables, like rabbit, pancakes and umbrella.

Pick how hard: Easy gives the letters in order and shows faint letters in the tray. Mix mixes the letters up. Tricky hides the word and adds two extra letters, so your child sounds it out from the picture.

Helping at 7 and 8

Clap the syllables together: rab-bit, um-brel-la. Then spell one part at a time.
Tricky suits this age: no word shown and two extra letters.
Ask your child to use the word in a silly sentence.
Let them pick the group (Animals, Food or Things) on the game's home screen.

Other ages

Questions parents ask

Is it too easy for 8 year olds?

The Big words deck has words up to 8 letters, like kangaroo and umbrella. On Tricky there is no word to copy, so it takes real spelling. Arcade games for older children are next.

What are bossy r words?

Words where an r after a vowel changes its sound: ar in star, or in corn, ir in bird, ur in turtle. Teachers also call them r-controlled vowels.

Is it free?

Yes. There is no sign-in, nothing to download and nothing to buy inside the games. It runs in the web browser on phones, tablets and computers.