Card game sounding out words
Blah Blah Blah Phonics Card Game
Skip to product informationIf you think "Systematic Synthetic Phonics" doesn't sound like the best time of your life, think again. Blah Blah Blah is the hilariously fun and effective phonics card game for ages four and up. It's fast-paced, it's silly, and it's highly competitive. The game was developed with teachers and phonics experts and is aligned to state phonics programs, making it the perfect tool for young readers!
For ages 4+
| Full-color card | 324 cards |
| Age range | 4+ |
| Year of publication | 2019 |
| Product dimensions | 15. |
| Product code | 5060-695-4700-1-9 |
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Step 2 Match cards that have a matching letter to the face-up card. (Remember: The order of the letters doesn’t matter)
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Step 3 Challenge your opponents! Play different wild cards to trip up other players! (Once a wild card has been played, gameplay continues based on the word played before it.)
| Shipping Method | Price | |
| Standard Shipping | Arriving in 1-5 business days | Calculated at Checkout |
| Free Shipping | Orders over $100 | Free |
| Expedited shipping | Guaranteed arrival in 2 business days if ordered before noon | +$8. 00 |
What makes phonics so effective?
English consists of about 44 sounds, but has more than 170 different ways to represent these sounds in writing. Phonics is the method that helps make kids aware of the patterns between these sound-letter correspondences, and it’s proven to be an extremely effective way to learn to read.
Teach me the rules!
Loved by parents and teachers alike
"This game is fantastic! My son's reading ability of CVC words it really taking off super fast because of this game."
Amanda | Parent
The perfect classroom tool
“Once my students played this game, they were hooked. I've never had a reading or phonics game that kids request wholeheartedly. Blah Blah Blah is my students' favorite game. They enjoy this even more than non-academic board games.
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Elizabeth Iverson | Teacher
What other parents think:
Get inspired by these stories.
This is just great!
Jane
January 2022
It is awesome!
Prince
March 2022
I recommend!
Jeniffer
February 2022
Brilliant resource for kids - both fun and educational!
Roger
Oct 2022
Children Learning Reading | Teach your child to read
Sound Readers®
Crazy Cards!
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There are 25 different decks organized from simple to complex!
SET 1: 5 Decks of Crazy Shorts for Starters (cvc, digraphs, floss, -ck, -ng/-nk) *digital only at this time
SET 2: 5 Decks of Crazy Shorts with Blends ("L" Blends, "R" Blends, "S" Blends, End Blends) *digital only
SET 3: 5 Decks of the ORIGINAL Crazy Shorts (for differentiation) *hard copy & digital
SET 4: 5 Decks of the ORIGINAL Crazy Longs (long vowels) *hard copy & digital
SET 5: 5 Decks of the Original Crazy Mores (other vowel teams & Bossy r's) *hard copy & digital
The Original Crazy Shorts phonics card games help children recognize and understand short vowels by playing a card game similar to Crazy 8s, only with words! They sound out a word, and then make up a CRAZY sentence using that word.
This gets them belly-laughing and having fun!
Each deck contains 63 cards (52 word cards, 7 wild cards, and 4 miss your turn cards).
$29.99US (5 decks - hard copies shipped to you)
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The Original Crazy Longs phonics card games help children recognize and understand long vowels in the same way - by playing a fun card game that they WANT to play. Teach your child to read by playing fun card games!
Each deck contains 63 cards (52 word cards, 7 wild cards, and 4 miss your turn cards).
$29.99US (5 decks - hard copies shipped to you)
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The Original Crazy Mores phonics card games go even further by teaching all of the other spelling patterns in English. Same game - same fun! Educational games for kids that they can play with their siblings, friends, or peers at school!
Crazy Mores contains ways to spell the sound /oo/, /er/, and other spelling patterns. Each deck contains 63 cards (52 word cards, 7 wild cards, and 4 miss your turn cards).
$29.99US (5 decks - hard copies shipped to you)
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Complete Set of ORIGINAL Crazy Cards!
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Crazy Shorts
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Crazy Longs
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Crazy Mores
$79.99US (15 decks shipped to you)
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Canadian customers order here:
NOTE: Crazy Cards for Starters and Crazy Cards with Blends are only available as e-decks (for now) to download, PRINT, CUT, & PLAY!
Reg. $9.99US/set of 5 decks
SALE: $6.99US/set of 5 decks
(Each deck is 7 pages double-sided - so 14 colour pages to print)
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NOTE: Cards with Blends are only available as e-decks (for now) to download, PRINT, CUT, & PLAY!
Reg. $9.99US/set of 5 decks
SALE: $6.99US/set of 5 decks
(Each deck is 7 pages double-sided - so 14 colour pages to print)
Founder of Sound Readers Crazy Cards, Martha Kovack, MEd,. talking about the card games and their instructional power with Dr.
Marnie Ginsberg, founder of Reading Simplified! (September 2020). Children learning reading through card games!
Shop Now
Part 1
Part 2
10 best board games where you have to explain words
We somehow looked at the top sales and realized that there are an incredibly many games for explaining words. And it's clear: these are simple rules, a funny process, you can play at any age and with almost any number of players, because you can always team up. Of course, in addition to the classics, there are new board games where you have to explain words, concepts and sensations in unexpected ways. We have collected the most popular and absolutely cool ones here. nine0003
Crocodile
Age : from 6 years old
Number of players : from 3 to 16
This is a pantomime explanation familiar to everyone since childhood. There are already quite a lot of crocodiles: ordinary, on the road, for children (usual from 12 years old, and for children from 6).
There, words and phrases are written on cards.
Elias
Age : 5+
Number of players : 4 to 12
On the contrary, a game where words are explained with words, but without cognates. For rooms or situations where it is not very appropriate to stand and portray a tram, it is better to take such an explainer game. There are also a lot of them: from children from 5 years old to adults from 10 years old.
Bomb
Age : 14+
Number of players : 4 to 16
It combines two ways of explaining words, and even three are obtained: words, pantomime and one word. The third is the most difficult way, but after you have already explained the same cards to each other in two other ways, this one is easier, and by the word "beard" you can guess Tolstoy.
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Activity
Age : 4+
Number of Players : 3 to 16
A very popular game in the West, which has already become almost a classic in our country. It also needs to explain the words in three ways that fall on the field: gestures, drawing, or explanation without cognates. There are versions for companies, on the road, and children's kits go as far as 4 years.
Equivoki
Age : from 10 years
Number of players : from 2 to 16
Let's take more! The Russian game Ekivoki offers to explain words in as many as 7 ways! Guess what? Ekivoki are kind, very beautiful and really funny. There is plasticine and the opportunity to show the talents of a tenor or soprano.
Valera time
Age : 16+
Number of Players : 3 to 8
When everyone played Equivoki and thought that the ways to show words and phrases were exhausted, we got the game Valera's Time. She soared to the top of the funniest games, queues lined up in stores, and publishers did not have time to produce rubber dolls. What? Ah, yes, here, another way is to explain words with the help of an inflatable male doll Valera. It is possible to burn the whole crowd.
Jaws
Age : 16+
Number of players : 2 to 4
An inhuman frenzy, from which it reduces the jaws. Again we use additional items: here these are expanders for the teeth. Here you need to explain the words, let's say, by putting a plastic thing into your mouth, which somewhat changes your diction.
Honey mushrooms
Age : 18+
Number of Players : 3 to 7
If you like the theater of one or two actors and absolute madness, try Honey mushrooms. Not mushrooms (from mushrooms, by the way, there is nothing like that), but a board game where you need to explain to one player (he is a doctor) what the other two show with gestures (they are your glitches). nine0003
Spoiler
Age : from 12 years old
Number of players : from 3
With a headband and a character card, you can transform into... anyone! You can become a real character or a fabulous one: Terminator, Nutcracker, Alexander Lukashenko. Now you need to guess who you are. Read to your friends the situations in which you find yourself, and try to understand from their answers what is written on your card. nine0003
Emotional Intelligence
Age : 12+
Number of Players : 3 to 14
Let's get back to quiet games. Emotional intelligence is practically an educational game in which you have to read phrases with different emotions. And opponents have to guess what you are experiencing, abstracting from the texts. Such a guessing game by facial expressions, and it was invented by a real mime.
Fans of explainer games will also be interested in Pantomime Games. If you are not sure which game is suitable for your holiday or as a gift for a specific person, call - our operators will help. nine0003
6 board games for improving English / Sudo Null IT News
Learning gamification is a great way to motivate a student and increase their results.
The reason is simple - games help to maintain a stable and high interest in the subject. And there the mechanisms of memorization and associations are switched on. Have you noticed that the lyrics of the song that you liked do not even need to be taught? It is remembered as if by itself after several listenings.
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If you delve into psychology, then interesting information immediately creates a stable chain of associations with existing knowledge. And the more such associations, the faster the information will go into long-term memory.
Today we will talk about a whole section of games that are undeservedly forgotten - board games. And we will tell you what desktops will help you improve your English skills.
All of these desktops can be purchased online without any problems. Ready? Go! nine0011
Scrabble
It would be very strange to talk about board games for improving English and not mention Scrabble.
Scrabble is a board game legend that combines extremely simple rules with fun. Naturally, we need an English version of the game.
The complexity of the rules. Low
Strategy level. Average
Trains skills: Mindfulness, vocabulary, anagramming, search for the optimal strategy. nine0003
Rules
Players are given 7 tokens with letters.
Players must place their chips on a 15x15 field in such a way that words are formed in the manner of a crossword puzzle. That is, you can read words only vertically and horizontally.
Each letter has its own value. And the less often it is used in words, the more points you get when using it. For example, "A" or "C" is worth only 1 point, "F" is worth 4 points, and "Q" is worth 10 points. Points from all letters used are counted and recorded. nine0003
The game is played up to a certain number of points. Whoever reaches it first wins.
Benefits
Scrabble is great for learning English vocabulary. Actually, the more words you know, the higher your chances of winning. You can check the presence of a word in any dictionary of the English language. It is better, of course, to use online dictionaries - for example, Oxford Dictionaries. The total allowed words are about 260,000 pieces.
If you don't know the word your opponent posted, take a few minutes to look up its meaning.
So you can replenish your vocabulary during the game. nine0003
Once Upon A Time
In Russian, it was released under the title "In a certain kingdom", which, as it were, hints at the meaning of entertainment. The task of the players is to tell a fairy tale or a fantastic story with the help of special cards.
Difficulty of rules: low
Strategy level: low
Trains skills: listening comprehension, sentence formation, language coherence, storytelling, mindfulness, logic.
Rules
Each player has a set of cards with characters, locations, properties, and actions, and one ending card.
Players need to tell a story using their own cards. In this case, it is imperative that each card is important for the advancement of the plot.
If the opponent in front of you is silent, confused, or contradicts an already told story, you can intercept the move and start telling yourself.
The game largely depends on the "talkativeness" of the players.
It is clear that at first it will be difficult to compose a fairy tale in English, but these are only the first few games. nine0003
To play for time and come up with the next plot twist, you can add colorful descriptions, dialogues, or some interesting little things to the fairy tale. The fairy tale will only benefit from this, and you yourself will benefit even more from such training.
It is important not only to tell the story yourself, but also to listen to others. Therefore, "Once Upon A Time" is great for people with approximately the same level of language proficiency.
Benefits
Creating a story on the go allows you to develop the beauty, coherence and logic of speech. You need to not only use your vocabulary to create a story, but also connect the story to the cards you have in your hand. nine0003
Say as much as possible here. After all, too much pause will lead to the interception of the move. And over time, quantity turns into quality, telling a story becomes easier.
And you will be able to speak fluently in English, about anything and for as long as you like.
Sounds like a plan
Sounds like a plan is considered a party game, but it's also great for improving English.
The task of the players is to give advice. And the extent to which these tips will be in the topic will mean the number of your points. nine0003
Difficulty of rules: low
Strategy level: low
Trains skills: reading, perception accuracy, thinking speed, logic.
Rules
Each player has cards from the Advice deck. Nearby there is a common deck "To Do List" (To Do List), from which each of the participants draw cards. Each turn is one action.
The goal of the game is to choose advice from your cards that will best suit the situation. nine0003
For example, you need to "Plan a family reunion". The cube shows what type of advice is needed: the best, the worst, from a child or from a grandmother.
Then each player draws a card with advice on that score. The participant who drew the "To Do List" card ranks the player cards from the most relevant advice to the least relevant advice.
The game turns out to be very fun, and the Pre-Intermediate level will be quite enough to participate in it. Unknown words can be looked up in the dictionary - this will practically not affect the speed of the game. But in this way you can learn to quickly correlate and filter information in English. nine0003
Benefit
From an English point of view, the game is quite simple. After all, in fact, you only need to correctly understand the meaning of several written sentences. However, it allows you to expand your vocabulary and replenish your stock of idioms and popular phrases.
Taboo
An excellent game in which you have to explain a word to your team without naming it or any other words that are directly related to it.
Complexity of rules: low
Strategy level: low
Trains skills: word descriptions, associations, thinking speed in English, use of active and passive vocabulary.
Rules
Everything is extremely simple. You need to explain as many words as possible in one minute. The word itself, of course, cannot be named. But you also can’t name other words that are directly related to it - they are written in the “Taboo” block.
For example, you need to explain the word "basketball". The words "sport", "basket", "basketball player", "ball" are prohibited. And now get out as you want. nine0003
The style of the game is a bit like "Crocodile", but here it's just impossible to explain the word with gestures - only words. By the way, this is one of those games for which you don’t even have to buy a special deck of cards, because you can invent words yourself.
Benefit
It turns out that explaining even the simplest word in this way is quite difficult. The game perfectly trains the skills of instant use of vocabulary.
After all, in one minute you need to explain as many words as possible. Literally in a split second, you need to understand how to explain the specific word “without taboo” as intelligibly as possible.
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The game "Alias" is very similar to "Taboo" in meaning - they differ only in the features of scoring and penalty systems. So if you wish, you can choose any of these two games.
Mad Gab
An extremely interesting phonetic game in which you have to guess a phrase by its sound.
Difficulty of rules: low
Strategy level: low
Trains skills: listening comprehension, use of vocabulary, phonetic associations. nine0003
Rules
Before the start of the round, the judge selects several cards. They are bilateral. On one side is written a nonsensical set of words, and on the other is a popular phrase that phonetically resembles the set of words on the first side.
For example: "Heaven Iced Hey" - "Have a nice day".
The task of the first player is to pronounce a set of words in such a way as to guess the answer phrase.
The second player knows the answer and tells the first one exactly how to say the phrase.
He can give clues about speed, intonation, accents, but cannot in any other way suggest the meaning of a phrase. nine0003
It is necessary to guess as many phrases as possible in the allotted amount of time. Most often within 3 minutes.
Benefits
Mad Gab is a great game for practicing English listening. If you learn how to play it well, then understanding even the accent of Indians or Chinese is not difficult.
The game also well includes an associative series, because the sounds of the riddle and the answer phrase are very similar. Often the answers are daily phrases that are used frequently - the more interesting their search will be. nine0003
Apples to Apples
A simple company card game in which the goal is to choose a word that best matches the main card. Association game and communication between rivals.
Complexity of rules: low
Strategy level: low
Trains skills: vocabulary, associative array, thinking speed.
Rules
The rules are a bit like “Sounds like a plan”, but you need to match the description to a specific word or description. nine0003
Each player has a certain number of cards in his hand from the red deck. The host of the round chooses one card with a word from the green deck - it becomes the main one.
The task of the players is to choose from their hand a card with a word that will match the main card as closely as possible.
For example, the green card on the table is "cute". The cards in your hand are Lawnmower, Clown, Bottle, Sports, and Kitten. Naturally, the most appropriate word would be "kitten". nine0308After all players have put down their cards, the facilitator chooses the most suitable one. The choice is always subjective, so the players also need to take into account the possible reaction of the presenter.
The player who chose the most appropriate word takes the green card for himself.
The first player to collect a certain number of green cards wins the game.
Benefits
Apples to Apples is a good vocabulary training. Most of the words written on the cards are fairly common. And if you consider that the number of cards in the game is from 200 to 400 (depending on the version), then this is a very good way to learn a few hundred new words or consolidate those already learned. nine0003
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Conclusions
Buying any of these board games in English is easy. In online stores, they are in sufficient quantities.
Board games are a great way to spend time with family or friends and practice your English along the way. If you're in a conversation club, try bringing one of these games to the meeting. And we assure you, classes will become much more interesting.
In this list, we specifically did not include games with complex rules or highly strategic ones. After all, you can play Dungeons & Dragons in English if you really want to.
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