Primary schools can now register for free for The Bananagrams Challenge.
Bananagrams has launched its first official UK tournament for schools in the form of The Bananagrams Challenge.
Primary schools can register for the tournament for free now, and Bananagrams hopes it will help boost vocabulary and spelling skills in classrooms and after-school clubs across the country.
The materials and games to be used in The Bananagrams Challenge have been designed specifically to incorporate the new Key Stage 2 spelling lists and to add value to classroom learning.
The free-to-enter Challenge, open to 500 schools, invites children in years 3, 4, 5 and 6 to play a series of Bananagrams games with classmates.
Through a simple process of elimination, each school finds its champion, or ‘Best of the Bunch’ who then competes in a series of online word-based games based around the Key Stage 2 spelling lists for one of 12 places at the grand final in London.
The grand final will take in March 2015 and all finalists will receive a Bananagrams Goodie Bag while the child crowned 'Top Banana' will take home a trophy and £500 for their school.
Each school that registers receives a free Bananagrams Challenge Welcome Pack worth over £40 providing teachers with everything needed to run their school’s Challenge. The Pack includes two Bananagrams games and a copy of the Collins Little Book of Bananagrams.
“The Bananagrams Challenge is the result of years of hard work and is something my father and I talked about when we first invented the game back in 2006,” said Rena Nathanson, Bananagrams’ CEO.
“Part of the reason Bananagrams was born was out of a desire to help kids play with words, which ultimately enhances their appreciation of language and their grasp of spelling and literacy.
"I’m thrilled that the Challenge is already proving popular – we soft-launched just before the summer and already more than half the places are filled. This won’t be a one-off though, I’m committed to making The Bananagrams Challenge a key part of schools’ plans for years to come and we’re already planning for the 2015/2016 tournament to be even bigger and better."