We are only two short weeks away from naming the champion — or champions — of the 2017 Scripps National Spelling Bee, and here at the Bee Hive (what we affectionately call our headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio), we’re busy with preparations for Bee Week. This year is particularly special to us because we’ll be celebrating the 90th Bee. How cool is that?
As we’re gearing up for our celebration in Washington, D.C., we have some ideas about how you can celebrate the spelling bee at home. The Finals will be broadcast live on ESPN at 8:30pm on Thursday, June 1, and we can’t imagine a better way to watch than with your closest friends and family, surrounded by bee snacks and decorations.
We’ve put together a list of our favorite ideas and recipes to help you throw a buzzworthy event. Be sure to follow the Bee’s official Pinterest account for even more ideas, and don’t forget to tag us in your party pics using #beewatchparty and #spellingbee so we can see how you’re celebrating the Bee’s 90th.
FOOD
Our Pinterest page is brimming with ideas for bee desserts and snacks, and we just had to test one out ourselves. Full disclosure: our bee-inspired brownie pops didn’t turn out nearly as picture-perfect as the ones on the Big Dot of Happiness blog, but they were super-fun to make and super-delicious to eat.
We’re also big fans of simple snacks that make your hosting responsibilities a bit easier. Any food that’s yellow and black will be perfect for your spelling bee watch party. Try making fruit kebabs with alternating black and yellow fruits like pineapple and blueberries, or banana and dark purple grapes. This honeycomb party mix from the Oriental Trading blog looks delicious and simple: It’s a win-win!
DECORATIONS
As for decorations, we’ve got you covered. Print out and customize your very own Scripps National Spelling Bee placard, or use this placard document to type in the names of your friends on your computer before printing. Once everyone has their own placard, you’ll totally be ready for a ‘gram a worthy #spellfie.
We also highly recommend black and yellow balloons, streamers, napkins and plates. If it’s black and yellow, it probably belongs at your party. And good news, the internet is filled with free bee printables, like these fun food labels from the Everyday Art blog.
TEST YOUR SKILLS
Do you think you have what it takes to pass our Preliminaries Test and advance to the Finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee? Head on over to spellingbee.com to find out. Take the exact same test that all 291 spellers will take on Tuesday, May 30th, then see who scores the highest at your party.
(Please note that the Take the Test feature will be available on Wednesday, May 31, after the spellers themselves have taken the test.)
You can continue to test your spelling skills by heading directly to ESPN’s play-along page during all phases of the competition. There, you can simultaneously watch the competition live and see if you know how to spell the word being attempted on stage. Lucky for you, you’ll be given several answer choices to pick from. The misspellings are written by the Scripps National Spelling Bee’s own editorial team, so you better come prepared.
ACTIVITIES
The very first National Spelling Bee took place in 1925, and we couldn’t let our 90th Bee pass without paying homage to the Roaring Twenties. During commercial breaks, have a spelling bee of your own with our themed 1920s word list. And please, we’re dying to see some flapper costumes and bowler hats, so don't forget to tag your photos with #beewatchparty.
What's another fun product of the 1920s? Bingo! We have a feeling you and your friends will have fun playing our spelling bee-themed version. Who will be the first to mark off when a word has a German root, or when Dr. Bailly makes a speller laugh? We have eight different bingo boards ready to download so everyone at your party can play.
Thank you for helping us celebrate our 90th national spelling bee, and don’t forget to tag us in your posts by using #spellingbee and #beewatchparty. We can’t wait to see all of your pictures from your spelling bee parties!