Spelling games and other mini games
This note lists the games a child can open in Spell Step. The first
section is the spelling games. The second section is every other mini
game on the Mini Games page.
Many spelling games share two helpers. Hint is the orange lightbulb.
It does not fill in the answer. It turns the next letter or tile pale
green and puts a green arrow on it until the child presses that tile.
View is the blue eye. It shows the word for a short time, then hides
it again.
SPELLING GAMES
Let’s Play Spelling
The main spelling session, opened from the Spelling tab. It uses a
small set of words from the child’s year group. New words come first.
After those, Let’s Relearn practises words from an earlier session, not
the words just finished. Stretch Learn then offers a slightly harder
word. Each word follows the same seven steps:
- Sound chunks. The word is split into its sounds.
- Hear and match. The child hears the word and taps the matching card.
- Type the word.
- Trace the word.
- Fill the gaps.
- Unscramble the letters.
- Spell alone, with no model left on the screen.
The app reads each task aloud. A wrong try is shown gently, and the
child can hear the task again. School Words uses the same seven steps
for a list a parent has typed, two words at a time.
Listen and Tap
The child hears a word and taps the card that matches it. There are a
few choices. The word is not shown as the thing to copy.
Build Chunks
The word is split into meaningful parts, such as a prefix, a root, and
a suffix. The child taps the letters of one part at a time and hears
what that part means. The parts then join into the whole word.
Magic Trace
The word is shown as a faint outline. The child traces it with a finger.
A progress line fills as the tracing covers the word. The child taps
finished when the trace is done.
Spelling Fun
The word stays on the screen. The child types it, letter by letter.
Only a letter that continues the word is accepted.
Missing Link
Some letters in the word are blank. The child taps the missing letters
in order. Extra letters are there as decoys.
Word Builder
The child builds a word from parts: a prefix, a suffix, a root, or a
word family. A family shows a base word and the new word, such as
magic to magician, or help to helpful. A visit starts with different
kinds of build, so the same sort of question is not repeated straight
away. The game finishes after three correct builds in a row. Hint
points at the next part. It does not place that part.
Map the Word
The meaning stays on the screen and the word is spoken. The child taps
the letter groups in order. Each group is a spelling of one sound, and
some tiles are wrong spellings of that same sound. A correct tap speaks
that sound. At the end the app ties the sound, the letters, and the
meaning together. A visit is four words, and the last is harder than
the first.
Homophone Hunt
Two or more words sound the same but mean different things, such as
see and sea. The child reads a short clue and picks the spelling that
fits.
Word Scramble
The letters of a word are mixed up. The child taps them in the right
order to spell the word.
Phonics Forge
The child builds the word from its sounds. Each tile is a letter or a
letter group, such as sh or igh. Hint points at the next sound and
leaves it marked until that tile is pressed.
Dictation Detective
The child hears a full sentence and types it, including spaces and
punctuation. The sentence is a real line to write, not a request to
spell one word. Hint points at the next character.
Filtered Dictation
The child hears the word and types it. The keyboard only offers letters
that belong in that word, so the choice is smaller than a full keyboard.
Flash Type
The word is shown, then hidden. The child types it from memory. The
letters appear only in the answer box.
Blind Dictation
The word is never left on the screen. The child hears it and types it.
View can show the word for a moment. Hint points at the next letter
without typing it.
Word Search
Spelling words are hidden in a letter grid. The child finds each word.
Younger children get a smaller grid. Hint marks the first letter of a
word that has not been found yet, not the whole word.
OTHER MINI GAMES
Writing games
Sentence Builder
Words are shown out of order. The child taps them into a sentence that
makes sense.
Punctuation Doctor
A sentence is missing its punctuation, or the punctuation is wrong.
The child chooses the fix.
Word Class
The child sorts words into classes such as noun, verb, adjective, and
adverb, and sees why a word belongs in that class.
Thinking games
Multi-Feature Match
Words appear on coloured cards. The child remembers them, then taps the
card that matches both the word and the colour asked for.
Memory Builder Grid
Words are shown briefly. They are hidden, and the child taps the words
that were asked for, one at a time.
Odd-One-Out (Memory)
The child sees a set of words, then a new set. They tap the word or
words that were not in the first set.
Sound & Sequence
The child hears an instruction such as “tap this, then tap that” and
taps the words in that order.
Word Position Builder
Words sit in places on the screen. After they are hidden, the child
taps the place where a named word had been.
Before & After Factory
The child hears words in order and taps those words back in the same
order. There is no picture to copy from.
Attribute Accountant
A grid shows words, and some words repeat. The child remembers the
grid, then says how many times one word appeared.
Letter Picker
Letters sit in numbered tiles. The tiles are hidden. The child picks
the letter that had been in a named tile.
Multitasking Challenge
The child taps the alphabet in order and, at the same time, answers a
second signal such as a bell. If the next letter is hard to find, that
letter tile flashes pale green.
Stroop Trainer
A colour word is printed in a colour that may not match the word. The
child taps what the rule asks for: the written word, or the ink colour.
Pattern Completion
A visual pattern has a gap. The child chooses the piece that completes
it. Later rounds use longer patterns.
What Comes Next?
A number or picture sequence is shown. The child chooses what comes next.
Find It Fast
The child searches a busy grid and taps every icon that matches the
target.
Spot the Difference
Two pictures are shown side by side. The child taps each place where
they differ.
Stop & Go
A bar changes colour. The child taps only when the bar is the colour
they were told to catch, and waits on the other colours.
Remember & Repeat
A sequence of colours is shown, then hidden. The child taps the colours
back in order.
Remember & Repeat Words
Words appear one at a time. The child then taps those words back in the
same order.
Ignore the Noise
The screen is full of shapes. The child taps only the target shapes and
leaves the rest alone.
Traffic Controller
The rule changes during the game, for example from “tap red” to “do not
tap blue”. The child follows the rule that is on the screen now.
Secret Agent Memory
The child memorises a set of agent items, such as a key or a map, then
recalls them when asked.
Finish the Game
Each round is one move from the end of a small puzzle. The child makes
that winning move. The puzzles are 4 in a Row, Number Grid, Block Drop,
Word Complete, Noughts and Crosses, Path Finder, Pipe Connection, and
Domino Match.
Feeling games
What Am I Feeling?
The child looks at a face and chooses the feeling it shows. The question
is spoken, and the game waits until the speech has finished.
What Would You Do?
The child hears a short situation and chooses a kind or sensible thing
to do.
Match the Feeling
The child links a situation to the feeling that fits it.
Calm Down Game
The child practises a calm choice: a slow breath, a focus, or a quiet
action. The game waits until the speech has finished before the next
question. Questions are not repeated in the same visit.
Emotion Builder
The child matches a situation, a feeling, and a kind response. A visit
does not repeat the same question, and the ending waits until the
speech has finished.
Maths games
Fraction Tiles
The child drags fraction, decimal, and percentage tiles to make one
whole. A wrong tile flashes, moves back out, and a green arrow points
at the tile that belongs.
The Step Shop
The child uses coins and notes to pay, find a total, or work out change.
A wrong item flashes, and a green arrow points at the right one.
Time Train
The child reads a clock or a simple timetable and answers a time question.
Number topics
Place Value
The child builds a number with hundreds, tens, and ones blocks. A block
dropped in the wrong column flashes and moves back, and the right
column is pointed out.
Fractions & More
The child matches a fraction, a decimal, and a percentage that mean the
same amount. Older children meet harder matches.
Convince Sparky
Shown on a tablet. Sparky makes a maths claim. Some claims are right
and some are wrong. The child says whether Sparky is correct, then
explains why. The round has a spread of easier and harder questions.
Ratio & Proportion
Shown on a tablet. The child answers ratio and proportion questions.
A correct answer is explained before the next question. Later questions
are harder.
Algebra Ready
Shown on a tablet. The child answers early algebra questions, such as a
missing number in a statement. A correct answer is explained before the
next question. Later questions are harder.
Statistics & Data
Shown on a tablet. The child reads a chart or a small set of data and
answers a question about it. A correct answer is explained before the
next question.
Shape & Space
Shown on a tablet. The child answers questions about shapes, position,
and space. A correct answer is explained before the next question.
Maths practice
Maths Match
The child hears a sum and taps the card that shows that sum.
Maths Trace
The child hears the sum and the answer, then traces the answer digits.
Maths Scramble
Parts of a sum are mixed up. The child taps them in order, then the
answer. Hint points at the next tile.
Maths Pick
The sum is shown without its answer. The child taps the correct answer
from two choices.
Maths Filtered
The question stays on the screen and the answer does not. The child
types the answer.
Maths Blind
The sum is spoken and not left on the screen. The child listens, then
types the answer. View can show the sum for a moment. Hint points at
the next digit without typing it.