Scrabble Junior Board Game: Rules and Instructions for How to Play

Objective of Scrabble Junior

The objective of Scrabble Junior is to score more points than the other players during the game.

Choosing a Difficulty Level

There are two different difficulty levels in Scrabble Junior. Before starting the game you need to decide which you are going to play as the two games have quite a few differences in how they are played. The first level is the beginner game which is for kids who are learning to spell. Level two is the advanced game which is for kids who can spell on their own.

Beginner’s Level Scrabble Junior

Setup

Place the gameboard on the table so the side with the words and pictures is visible.
Each player chooses a Scrabble Junior token. Each player places their token on the Start space.
Randomize all of the tiles and place them facedown to the side of the board.
Each player randomly takes seven tiles. You will place the tiles face up in front of you.
The oldest player will start the game. Play will proceed clockwise throughout the game.

Playing Beginner’s Level Scrabble Junior

On your turn you will choose two of the tiles in front of you to place on the gameboard. You will place the tiles on the gameboard covering up letters with tiles featuring the same letter. You can only place tiles on spaces that don’t already have a tile.

Placing Tiles in the Beginner's Game — The first player has played two of their tiles to the gameboard. They played the r on tree and the h on dolphin.

After placing your two tiles you will look to see if you covered the last letter(s) for a word(s) on the gameboard. If you completed a word, you will receive one point.

Completing A Word — The current player played the last letter in tree. They will score points for completing the word.

Scoring A Point in Scrabble Junior — The current player played the last letter in tree. They will score points for completing the word.

Should you complete two words with the placement of one tile, you will score one point for each word for a total of two points.

Completing Two Words in Scrabble Junior — The player that is about to play the O. This will complete two words: tomato and dolphin. By playing the tile they will score points from both of the words.

You can also place tiles to complete two words in different parts of the board. You will score one point for each word.

Should you complete a word that is the same color as your chosen token, you will score two points for the word instead of the one that you would normally receive.

Completing A Word of Your Color — The blue player played the last tile that completed the word water.

Scoring Your Own Colored Word — The blue player played the last tile that completed the word water.

If you score any points on your turn, move your token forward on the track the corresponding number of spaces.

To finish your turn you will draw two new tiles and place them next to the other tiles in front of you.

Drawing New Tiles in Scrabble Junior — As the player played two of their tiles, they will draw two new tiles to replace them.

End of Game

The game ends once all of the words have been covered on the gameboard.

End of Beginner's Game — As all of the spaces have been filled in on the board, the game has ended.

The player that scored the most points (moved the furthest on the score track), wins the game.

Winning the Beginner's Game of Scrabble Junior — The blue player has scored the most points so they have won the game.

Advanced Level Scrabble Junior

Setup

Place the gameboard so the side without pictures and words is visible.
Randomize all of the tiles and place them face down on the table next to the gameboard.
Each player takes seven tiles. You will place your tiles face up in front of you.
Choose a player to be the scorekeeper. The scorekeeper will have to use paper and a pencil/pen to keep track of the score throughout the game.
The oldest player starts the game. Play will proceed clockwise throughout the game.

Playing Advanced Level Scrabble Junior

The advanced level of Scrabble Junior is played quite a bit more like the original Scrabble game.

On your turn you will try to form a word with the letter tiles in front of you as well as the tiles already played to the gameboard.

For the first word in the game one of the tiles has to cover the center square.

Playing A Word in Scrabble Junior — The first player decided to play the word “game” to the board.

After the first word, all other words have to connect to at least one tile that has already been played to the gameboard.

Playing A Word — The second player decided to play the word money using the m from game.

All words must be created horizontally or vertically. You cannot form a word diagonally or backwards.

If you are unable to play a word to the gameboard, you have the ability to exchange some or all of your tiles for new tiles from the draw pile. Your turn will then end without you playing a word to the board or scoring any points.

You will end your turn by drawing new tiles until you have seven tiles face up in front of you.

Taking New Tiles in Scrabble Junior Advanced Game — As the player used four tiles in their word, they drew four new tiles.

Scoring Words

When you form a word on the gameboard you will score points for it.

You will score one point for each letter in the word that you formed. This includes any letter tiles that were already on the gameboard that you ended up using.

Creating A Word — The third player didn’t have many options, so they were only able to play the word yes using the y from money. As the word has three letters, the player will score three points.

Forming A Word — The third player didn’t have many options, so they were only able to play the word yes using the y from money. As the word has three letters, the player will score three points.

End of Game

The game ends once all of the letter tiles have been added to the gameboard.

Players will then compare their scores. The player that scores the most points, wins the game.

Year: 1958 | Publisher: Hasbro, Mattel, Milton Bradley, Parker Brothers, Selchow & Righter, Spear’s Games | Designer: Len A. Ranko Associates | Artist: NA

Genres: Children’s, Word

Ages: 5+ | Number of Players: 2-4 | Length of Game: 30 minutes

Difficulty: Light | Strategy: Light-Moderate | Luck: Moderate

Components: 2016 Edition – gameboard, 4 tokens, 105 letter tiles, instructions

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