Monster Gab: An Early Reading Game

Monsters who like to gab…?

These monsters have something to say about themselves and each other! The goal is to find all the words in the monster’s statements. This is a fun way to recognize some sight words: 21 of them, to be specific. There are three different ways we play with this deck of cards, and I’m quite sure some of you can come up with more. Our personal favorite is the Fast Gab. It’s the fastest-paced, funniest, and potentially most painful since it involves a race to slap the cards. For the most part, though, when a hand is slapped instead of a card, laughter ensues!

How To Play:

After deciding how many rounds to play, players collect the gab cards by finding all the word cards that complete the gab. The player with the most gab cards after all the rounds win. The three different ways we’ve played this game are 1) Easy Gab (beginner), 2) My Own Gab (intermediate), and 3) Fast Gab (advanced).

Easy Gab

1. Decide how many rounds to play.
2. Shuffle the gab and word cards separately. Put the gab cards face-down in the middle.
3. Give each player three (3) word cards, and put the remaining cards face down in the middle.
4. The youngest player takes the top card from the gab pile and reads what the monster has to say.
5. Player then picks the top card from the word cards, looks at the card without showing it to the other players, and decides to KEEP or DISCARD the card. If the player keeps the card, he/she must discard a different card.
6. Moving clockwise, the next player decides to either use the previous player’s discarded card, or pick from the top of the word card pile. Player also decides to KEEP or DISCARD the new card.
7. Repeat for all players, each taking one turn. l If the player has three (3) of the four (4) words from the gab card, and picks the last word either from the discarded card or the word card pile, the player lays down his cards and wins the round. This player gets to keep the gab card for the round.
8. When the predetermined number of rounds is completed, the player with the most gab cards wins!

My Own Gab

1. This is similar to EASY GAB, but instead of all players trying to collect words for the same gab card, each player gets one gab card* as part of his/ her hand. This means each player has four cards.
2. Without revealing their own gab cards, players proceed playing as in EASY GAB, but each player collects the words for his/ her own gab only.

* You can choose to simply hand one gab card each to the players, or you can shuffle the gab cards with the word cards. If the latter, the players will eventually get a gab card and can choose to use that based on their existing cards, or wait for a better one.

Fast Gab

1. Decide how many rounds to play.
2. Shuffle the gab and word cards separately. Put the gab cards face-down in the middle.
3. Distribute all the word cards evenly among the players. Players hold the cards face-down.
4. The youngest player takes the top card from the gab pile and reads what the monster has to say.
5. Player takes his/her top word card, then flips and places it quickly in the middle. Moving clockwise, each player does the same.
6. If the flipped word card is one of the words from the gab card, players either yell out the word, slap the flipped card, or do both! The player who acts first gets the flipped word cards.
7. Round ends when all player cards have been flipped. Player with the most collected wordcards win the round. This player keeps the gab card for the round.
8. When the predetermined number of rounds is completed, the player with the most gab cards wins!

In Action: