PAL Award Winners – Games
Exceptional toys, games and books / media that encourage language, spark fun and invite creative play.
PAL Award Winners
Established by respected speech and language expert Sherry Artemenko MA, CCC-SLP, the PAL Award recognizes exceptional toys, games and books / media that, through their design, content, quality, and character, promote play that advances language. PAL winners in the hands of kids spark fun and creative play with lots of talk!
2024
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2023
Mish Mash by USAopoly
Check your reflexes before opening this box! Mish Mash is a fast-action, slap happy card game where players win cards by spotting a common feature...
Alphabet & Numbers Learning Fun Totes by MindWare’s Peaceable Kingdom
The Alphabet and Numbers Learning Fun Totes by MindWare’s Peaceable Kingdom are a fun introduction to basic letter and number concepts for...
Space Crusade by The Learning Journey International
Space Crusade by The Learning Journey International is an out-of-this-world board game. It combines space facts with math and language skills. Kids...
Cranium 25th Anniversary Edition
Cranium 25th Anniversary Edition is everyone’s new favorite board game that's all about using your creativity and knowledge to solve puzzles, draw...
Party Time Bingo by The Speak Boutique
Put on your party hats for Party Time Bingo! A picture matching game with layers of learning and language opportunity. Great for 2-4 players that...
Ancient Hidden City: A Seek & Find Glow Puzzle by MindWare’s Peaceable Kingdom
The Ancient Hidden City puzzle by Peaceable Kingdom is a fun and challenging 100-piece puzzle, and also has great learning and repeat play value....
Tapple 10 by USAopoly
Word lovers, vocabulary competitors and Tapple fans will love The Op’s newest version of a favorite: Tapple 10. Minus the letter wheel but plus 10...
Best Dressed Banana by MindWare’s Peaceable Kingdom
Best Dressed Banana is a cooperative magnetic dress up game that combines language and categorical knowledge of words with creativity and...
Disney and Pixar’s Cars Launch ’N’ Race by Funko Games
Racers, start your engines! Disney and Pixar's Cars Launch 'N' Race is a fast-driving (fast playing!) game where children learn cooperative play,...
2022
GeoLogic by ThinkFun
This travel-friendly logic puzzle will test your reasoning, problem solving, and patience! GeoLogic is ThinkFun’s newest singular player brainteaser...
Glow in the Dark Monsters by TLJI
These monster scientist are busy in their lab. They’re mixing, moving, cooking, and tasting all sorts of monster muck. The coolest part about this...
Trivia Challenge! Geography, Animal and Science by MindWare
Trivia is the ultimate brain workout. Applying knowledge, making some inferences, and learning along the way are all brain boosting ways that...
MathLink® Cubes Numberblocks 11–20 Activity Set by hand2mind
Math just got even cooler. Watch and discover Netflix’s popular Numberblocks series. Numberblocks are friendly characters that help children see how...
Ultra Power Battle Game by Expand Your Mind
Challenge your friends to Ultra Power Battle Game by Expand Your Mind. This entertaining game of chance gets kids excited and practicing math with...
My First Big Floor Puzzle: Fire Truck, Recycle Truck, Train, Digger by TLJI
Puzzles continue to be a phenomenal learning tool for children. Our little ones are fascinated by matching colors, designs, and making connections....
SavannaScapes by SimplyFun
Future ecologists, conservational biologists, and animal enthusiasts are already roaring about the...
Recycling & Conservation Pattern Block Puzzle Set by hand2mind
Kids learn to be Earth savers and global citizens with hand2mind’s new Recycling and Conservation Pattern Block Puzzle Set. These tangram-style...
Explorer Puzzles by Learn with OjO
Learn with OjO is trailblazing the toy industry with outstanding educational toys and games. Their new Explorers Puzzles feature three real world...
2021
Word Witt
Created by parents and supported by educators, Word Witt is a fun and competitive way to build some of the most important academic skills in school...
Rhyme Antics
Rhyme Antics is the most lively way to practice key reading skills, such as phonemic awareness and build vocabulary knowledge in school aged...
Candy Collections by Cybele’s Games
Invented and designed during the pandemic shutdown by 10 year old, Cybele, Candy Collections will be a soon favorite for family game night. The...
Bold Made: An Old Maid Upgrade
The original Old Maid card game has been around since the Victorian times and was long overdue for an upgrade. The innovators of Bold Made show...
2020
Bandit’s Memory Mix Up by Peaceable Kingdom/MindWare
Families who are looking for games to play with their preschoolers and older siblings have found just that with Bandit's Memory Mix Up. Bandit is a...
Hit List by Gamewright
How many things within a category can you name in 30-seconds? Playing Hit List, by Gamewright, certainly gives you that “it’s on the tip of my...
Story Time Chess
What a fantastic idea to teach chess through stories! The Story Time Chess Storybook contains eight clever stories to introduce each chess piece...
My First Rush Hour by ThinkFun
Hooray for ThinkFun! So many kids have enjoyed "Rush Hour" over the last 20 years and now the preschool set can join in too. Based on the parent...
Splurt! by Gamewright
Think fast and answer first in this fast paced word game that challenges players to think in categories as well as about letter placement,...
Global Warning by Adventerra Games North America
In this enlightening and entertaining game, players are tasked with understanding global warming's root causes, prioritizing fixes and assessing the...
PowerHaus by Adventerra Games North America
Get ready to learn practical life lessons as you and your friends buy an old house to share, only to find out it leaks heat and wastes energy while...
Turtle Steps by Hapinest
My little friends got excited about Turtle Steps from the moment they saw the box! They knew just what to do for set up, placing the large and...
2019
Pick Me Up, Piggy! by Peaceable Kingdom – A MindWare Brand
Piggy has a big run around job to do. First she drives her blue truck full of animals to deliver the cow, horse, chicken and mouse to their...
Heads Talk Tails Walk by
No need to leave your preschooler on the sidelines during Family Game Night. The whole gang will be laughing themselves silly as they try to match a...
Button, Button, Belly Button by Peaceable Kingdom – A MindWare Brand
Try NOT to get silly saying, "Button, Button, Belly Button" with your toddler! I introduced this game to my 2 year-old friend and she said, "Cool!"...
Hoyle Mixed Emojis
I love this little game of expressing emotions. As a speech language pathologist, I have worked with kids for years, helping them increase their...
Hoyle Seal Squad
Get your Seal team ready to work cooperatively to collect as many fish as you can before the walrus gets to the fish pile! Unfold the fabric mat...
SPARK Cards by SPARK Innovations
Sequencing is a valuable language skill for children to learn so they can break down events into logical steps, and place them in order to recall...
2018
Rival 5 Game by Rival 5 Game LLC
Get out your math facts and strategic skills to take on opponents in Rival 5. I played with a 12 and 14 year-old who loved the game and said, "It's...
Anomia Kids by Anomia Press
Older kids and adults enjoyed Anomia and now kids ages 5 and up can join in the word retrieval fun! Players go around the circle and draw a card to...
CODENAMES : Disney Family Edition by USAopoly
Kids loved the Disney movie illustrations as we placed our 16 Treasure Cards in a 4 x 4 grid for the playing surface. Since our players were 8 years...
Hoyle Super Me! by The United States Playing Card Co.
Hoyle believes in fun first in their games but "there's always room for a lesson." "Super Me!" had kids fully engaged in finding matches and...
2017
WordSpiel by Set Enterprises, Inc.
WordSpiel gets kids 8 and up and grownups racing to make words, adding on to previously played letter cards to be the first to get rid of their...
Wobbly Worm by Spinmaster
Assembly and instructions are so simple that my 3 year-old friend spotted "Wobbly Worm" when he came in my house and started up the game by himself!...
Monkey Around by Peaceable Kingdom
I'm often asked for suggestions for appropriate toys for toddlers as well as "how" to play with them. Somehow babies and preschoolers are easier to...
Bunny Bedtime by Peaceable Kingdom
Bedtime can be a challenge with our little bunnies. Excuses, excuses but knowing the routine and making it fun can help kids comply. Bunny Bedtime...
PDQ The Pretty Darn Quick Word Game by Gamewright
PDQ happens so fast you have to be quick or a round is over. Shuffle the letter cards and place three cards face down, center card first. Ready, set...
Janod Beware the Mole
What fun it is to include a 3-year-old in family game night. Once we explained to him that the mole will eat his vegetables and he got the idea that...
Janod Speed Pizza
How speedy can you be piling the ingredients on your pizza? Kids loved grabbing some of the 99 pieces to choose from their little drawstring bag to...
Janod Penguin Skittles Game
My little friend found the game bag so inviting that he brought it over to me to open so he could set it up. He knew all about bowling so this was a...
Janod Hide and Seek Game
Little ones can relate to a house full of animals as they seek out their furry friends behind the doors of this colorful home. My little buddy...
2016
Fast Flip by Blue Orange Games
Play started quickly with the easy directions and quick flips of the triangular cards. “It’s sort of a game like Spot It!” a player called out after...
Ravensburger Hundreds of Horses
The opening paragraph describing the setting for the game, “Imagine a legendary horse farm nestled among rolling fields and pastures, with a...
Ravensburger Buggaloop
HEXBUG's buzz and erratic vibrating moves drew giggles and conversation as kids watched it scurry through the yard, weaving between players' bugs...
Rory’s Story Cubes: Dr. Who by The Creativity Hub
Rory’s Story Cubes excite the imagineer in everyone, but add a little "Dr. Who," the British science fiction classic, and the adventure blasts-off....
Ravensburger Ocean Labyrinth
Ocean Labyrinth is Ravensburger's newest version of their popular classic, which we've enjoyed as a family for many years. Now players can dive into...
Rory’s Story Cubes: Scooby-Doo by The Creativity Hub
My little friends apparently needed no instructions to start up a Scooby-Doo themed story with the newest Rory Story Cubes. "The gang was in this...
Crazy Letters by Mindware
Kids and parents loved this topsy turvy word game challenging players 10 and up to think outside the box. Hold up a word card and see who can...
Rule Crazy, Starter Edition by P. F. Shaggy
This early reading game, developed by a father-daughter team, is truly "rule crazy" because the rules are so flexible since kids are in charge....
2015
Choice Words by MindWare
Get your brain connections well oiled before starting this game of Choice Words. Both options, Scratch Play and Match Play are loads of fun as you...
Hucklebee by MindWare
Of all the age groups, parents most frequently ask me for the best toys for toddlers. These cute miniature people are learning to explore their...
Tiggly Words by Tiggly
Meet the newest member of the Tiggly family, "Tiggly Words," designed to help kids discover the love of reading as they "play" with their hands-on...
Resulta by Hape
Resulta, one of a new family of games in Hape's Home Education category, targets sequencing, story telling and logic as kids have to correctly place...
Koala Capers Game by Educational Insights
The koala family is off on a world tour and we get to dress them for the journey! Koala Capers Game, like last year’s Raccoon Rumpus, asks each...
Compose Yourself by Thinkfun
My three little friends became quick composers as they gathered around, arranged their 4 musical cards and couldn't wait for their turn to enter the...
Ideal Electronic A to Z
Get ready for a heart-thumping, fast-paced game of who can name the most items in a category beginning with the letters of the alphabet! A to Z's...
Ideal Word Speed Dice Slide
Word Speed Dice Slide is well-named as successful play requires forming words at high speed! Players race to spell words including at least 2 of...
FrankenWords by Haywire Group
Stack your word cards into 16 piles of 5 cards each and watch the compound word laboratory begin, as players race to call out a two-word combination...
2014
Over Under
“How many dimples are on a regulation golf ball? How many bricks are in the Empire State Building? In what year was NATO created? Listen to the...
Rory’s Story Cubes– MAX
Being a fan of Rory’s story Cubes, I’ve found that “Max” takes the storytelling to a new level. Something about the larger cubes, manipulated in...
Spot it! Numbers and Shapes by Blue Orange Games
“Spot It” is everybody’s favorite and now we can invite the preschool set to join the learning fun! Flip your card over to search for the only...
Spot it! Alphabet by Blue Orange Games
Preschoolers love joining big brother and sister is a game of “Spot it! Alphabet,” as they flip over their card to search for the only letter that ...
The Extraordinaires Design Studio by The Creativity Hub Ltd.
It’s time to tap your creativity, imagination, problem solving and marketing skills as you grab your “Extraordinaires Design Studio” and try your...
Who Am I? by Janod
Who Am I? is the big question as players sit across each other with the game board propped up between them picturing 24 animals dressed in various...
uKloo Riddle Edition Treasure Hunt Game
The uKloo family is growing and they've done it again-- introduced us to yet another fabulously fun treasure hunt game that promotes reading,...
Junior Alias by Tactic
Pick your teams and get ready for a fast-paced game of “Junior Alias.” The starting team chooses a player to explain the picture cards while the...
Family Alias by Tactic Games
You can't be at a loss for words in "Family Alias" and everyone takes a turn explaining their selected words using synonyms, opposites or clues so...
2013
What’s the Racket? by HABA
What’s that Racket? is the latest addition to HABA's fun learning games that target listening skills, focus, auditory memory, association and...
Loco Lingo Games by HABA
Get your listening ears on for HABA's "Loco Lingo" series of games. Open the box for the Kindergarten game and take out the three cute wooden...
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Clash Alley Strategy Game by Wonder Forge
The fun starts immediately as kids set up the 3-D game board, stacking boxes at different levels for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to traverse...
PicWits! by MindWare
Use your creativity to match one of your wacky PicWits photo cards to the judge's caption card. What pictured person, animal or situation...
What’s It? By Peaceable Kingdom
What's It? is a cooperative game where players interpret doodle cards and score points for thinking alike. Roll the dice with category options such...
The Great Cheese Chase by Peaceable Kingdom
The learning never stops in Peaceable Kingdom's cooperative games. Along with following directions, cooperating, and making group decisions, players...
Frog Wobble by MindWare
Kids loved balancing their friendly frogs on the log, adjusting and offering advice as to where to put the next wooden frog to keep from tipping...
WordARound by Thinkfun
I never knew reading in circles could be so much fun! Each round card has blue, red and black concentric circles, with a single word written in each...
Hello Sunshine! by Thinkfun
Say hello to Sunshine, who joins Thinkfun's first toddler game, “Roll ‘n Play” which was popular with toddlers and their moms last year. I am more...
2012
Spontuneous by Spontuneous Games, Inc.
Warm up your voice, but better yet, get some songs in your head to get ready to play Spontuneous. A group or party game, Spontuneous challenges...
Word Wave by Spin Master Ltd.
What fun to have an electronic wave dispenser shooting out letters every few seconds! Don't get rattled by the rapid play or you will miss a...
HEDBANZ by Spin Master Ltd.
Kids loved snapping their hedbanz together and popping them on their heads, ready to be the featured player to guess who they were. Clip a cartoon...
Flapz by Blue Orange Games
Tuck this little, flat Tyvek game into your pocket and you can laugh, talk, act out and sing through the 96 challenges. Designed like the...
Tell Tale Fairy Tales
Another Blue Orange tin of fun has arrived to encourage kids to weave their first fairy tales. 60 double sided cards have simple images to start a...
Shrimp Cocktail by Blue Orange Games
Let’s haul in the most matching shrimp from our boat to concoct a delicious shrimp cocktail. A fast-paced card game in a tin, Shrimp Cocktail...
Spot it Jr! Animals by Blue Orange Games
Ramp up your little one’s vocabulary as he plays Spot it Jr! Animals. More than 30 different animals are pictured in groups of 6 on the 31 cards....
Speedeebee by Blue Orange Games
You have to think fast to be the speediest bee in the round as players answer challenges from the stack of 50 cards with 3 brain teasers each. Roll...
Storymatic Kids by The Storymatic Corporation
Parents, teachers, friends and family should grab this little box of fun. Originally designed as a writing prompt by a creative writing teacher in...
2011
Where is Sock Monkey? Game by Cardinal Games
Combine the excitement of hide and seek with a kid-sized Sock Monkey pal, to give your kchildren a game they beg to play over and over. Choose a...
2010
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About The Award
Learn about the application and selection process for the PAL Award.
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erika@playonwords.com