How to play
- Choose a topic, or All for a mix. The word shows as a row of blanks, one for each letter.
- Tap a letter. If it is in the word, it fills the blanks where it goes.
- If it is not, one balloon pops. You can get eight letters wrong; when the last balloon pops, the round is over and the word is shown.
- Press New word to play again.
The topic is always shown as a clue. Children who can type can use the keyboard too.
Why balloons?
Classic hangman draws a figure on a gallows, which not every parent or teacher wants in front of young children. Here a child holds a bunch of balloons instead, and a wrong guess pops one. If you prefer the traditional drawing, choose Hangman under Picture.
The words
There are seven topics: animals, food, colors, toys, things at home, my body and outside. The words are short and familiar, like cat, milk, kite and rain, so early readers can sound them out and spell them. There are no names, and nothing scary.
Short words are actually the hardest kind to guess, because they give fewer clues, so this version allows eight wrong guesses instead of six. Older children who want a challenge can move on to the main hangman game, with Easy, Medium and Hard levels.
Learning with hangman
- Spelling: every round is spelling practice. Say the word aloud together at the end.
- Letters and sounds: ask “which letter makes the sound at the start of cat?” before guessing.
- Vowels: older children can learn that guessing A, E, I, O and U first usually helps.
- Your own words: use two-player hangman to type in this week’s spelling words, with balloons.
More for children: the memory game with animal and food pictures, and the word search on Easy.