Word Building with Jumbo Letter Tiles (CrowdWords)

When I posted my Top 10 Go To Activities a while back, I included a description of Four-of-a-Kind - my portable playing card version for Word Building – the noodle chip activity written up in the book 50 More Ways to Use Your Noodle. At the time of this post, JUMBO Bananagrams (letter tiles) hit the scene. However, now (in 2025) they are no longer available. My go-to jumbo letter tiles are now CrowdWords – a large set of laminated letters for any word (team) building activity.

Now Word Building can be more portable (don't get me wrong, I love to use my 3.5 inch diameter lettered noodle chips every chance I get - but sometimes I can't get them to where I'm going). On a budget? Make your own set of letter tiles using index cards or small paper plates – use a highlighter marker to write the numbers so they don't show through the paper.

Word Building
Set Up: Use a 50 foot activity rope and lay out a big circle. Scatter all your large letters, letter-side down, inside the big circle (see picture). Then, set down one game spot (Hula Hoop, or carpet square) for every small group of 2 to 3 players about 5 feet from the outside of the rope circle. You're ready to go! 

To make the team building more interesting, you'll want at least six small 'teams' of 2 or 3 players each. So, this one works well with 12 to 30 participants (in my experience) with one set of larger letter tiles (see below for specifics on letters in a large set). Put one small team at each of the game spots you've placed around the outside of the rope circle. And tell everyone:

​"The objective of the activity is for each small team to spell a five-letter word [or you could play a round of four-letter words first] using the lettered pieces inside the 'letter pool.' The activity is not over until every team has spelled a five-letter word." 

RULES of PLAY
This is a timed activity. When you say "GO" the timer is started and the following rules are in play until every small team has a five-letter word. The group (all small teams) is after completing the objective in the lowest possible time.

• Only one player from each team can enter into the letter pool at a time (e.g., if there are six teams, up to six people can be inside the letter pool).
• After entering the pool a player is only allowed to pickup (touch) one letter tile. 
• If a player chooses to take this tile from the circle, no one in the 'group' may look at the letter until it is flipped over onto the teams spot/hula hoop.
• All players on each team must take turns going into the letter pool - meaning, all players from a small team must go into the circle once before someone can go in a second time and so forth. 
• If a team decides to keep the letter taken from the pool it is placed down on their spot/hula hoop and must be touching the spot or be touching a letter that's touching the spot.
• If a team decides NOT to keep a letter it is brought back into the letter pool and placed face/letter-side down inside the pool. In other words, if a letter is not wanted it goes back into the pool – letter-side down. This mean a letter tile may not be given to another team.  
• Each team may have up to six letter tiles at their spot - when the seventh letter tile is brought to a team's spot one must then be taken back to the pool on the next player's turn.
• ​When all teams have spelled out a five-letter word at their spot, the time stops.

NOTE: Be mindful of your wording during the activity. A 'team' consists of 2 to 3 players. The 'group' consists of all the players in the game. Decide: If you tell the group this information their understanding of this might lead to cooperating behaviors faster. If you don't clarify the difference between a 'team' and the 'group' the initial mental model may lead directly to a competitive experience. Then, mental models change through experience, collecting data and deciding what is and isn't working with the way people are thinking. A nuance to consider. 

Remember, the objective is for EVERY team to spell out a five-letter word. This means the activity is not over - the time does not stop - until all small teams have a five-letter word.

This is one of my favorites (could be my favorite) because of the "helping" and planning behaviors that can show up. What do the players of each small team do when they have spelled their word? Usually, at first, they end up standing/sitting around until everyone else gets done. When several games are played for time, someone usually figures out they are able to help other teams still playing – within the rules of course.

For example, a player picks up a letter, brings it back to their spot, look at it and the team decides they don't need that letter. The next player from that team goes into the letter pool, calls out to all the other teams what the letter is as she puts it back (letter-side) down in the circle. Another way to help: Players go around to other teams to see what letter(s) they need and then go into the pool, rotating with their team, and work to find what's needed.

In most cases I've seen the entire group eventually work together from the start (after two or three rounds of learning) and plan where they will call out and place down the letters so others know where to look. Lots of possibilities!

Possible Reflection Questions:

• What stands out for you, or surprised you, after playing a few games of Word Building?
• How many of you, at some point, played the game as if it were a competition? What led you to approach the game in this way? 
• When did you realize the game was not competitive? What changed your perspective of the game – from competitive to cooperative? 
• What 'helping' behaviors did you notice during the games? How were you, in particular, being helpful during the games? 
• What did you find important about sharing ideas to solve problems during, and between, games? How did you manage all the ideas that were shared? How did you decide what idea(s) to try during the games? How was each person treated after sharing an idea? 
• What behaviors, did you recognize, got in the way of your success? What behaviors led to your success?

• Where can the successful behaviors you used during the Word Building games fit into your everyday lives? 

Letter Tile Set: Here's a nice set of letters for a group of up to 30 participants – making your own with index cards or small paper plates. Three sets of the alphabet (78). Two more sets of vowels – including the Y (12). And 30 more consonants, leaving out the q, x and z. You'll have 120 letter tiles to work with. 

Let us know how it's going out there. Leave your thoughts and ideas in the Comments. 

Have FUN!

​Chris Cavert, Ed.D. 
(Updated, 4/10/25)