Spelling bee

In English schools spelling is practised every week and the spelling bee is its contest. Here the voice says the word, a sentence with it and the word again, just like a real bee. Both teams spell it at the same time with letters and the point goes to the first to finish. When they get it right, the voice spells it out.

Years 1 and 2Years 3 and 4Years 5 and 6English
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Spelling bee on the whiteboard: boxes to spell the English word and letters to tap

What children practise

Levels and settings

Years 1 and 2

Short words (cat, fish, tree, cake) with a picture and the voice.

Years 3 and 4

Words about home, school and food (school, orange, kitchen, Monday); on hard, voice only.

Years 5 and 6

The hard ones: because, beautiful, Wednesday, February, library, neighbour, voice only and with extra letters.

How to play it in class

  1. Choose the year and difficulty, or in More options the words, the hints, the extra letters, the voice and the points.
  2. Press Start: the voice says the word and both halves see the same; the speaker repeats it.
  3. Each team taps the letters in order. The first to finish wins the point and both halves move on to the next word.
  4. After three mistakes, the word is shown. The first team to reach the goal wins.

Ways to play

In teams, at the same time

The screen splits in two and each team plays on its own half at the same time.

For one player

One child plays on the whole screen at their own pace: on the whiteboard, a computer or a tablet.

Frequently asked questions

How many words are there?

Over a hundred, in three groups: short, medium and hard, each with an example sentence.

Do the teams play at the same time or take turns?

At the same time: both teams spell the same word in their half and the first to finish wins the point.

Is it free?

You can play 5 free games without signing up. After that, a one-off payment of €9.99 unlocks all 78 games for ever, on all your devices. There is no subscription.

Do I need to install anything?

No. It opens in the browser of the interactive whiteboard, panel, computer, tablet or iPad. Once loaded, it also works offline.

More English games

Past, present, futureIt is Sentence Builder for older children.Blending roadIn English schools children learn to read by blending sounds: c-a-t, cat.Spelling roadSpelling by sounds is the other side of reading: hearing cat and knowing it goes c, a, t.Torch huntA game of discovery.

Spelling bee

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