Rainy Day Games And Lessons

There are those days when the weather outside is dark and gloomy, and all you want to do is cuddle up in bed with your children. These are the best times to remember that home-schooling provides golden opportunities to skip out of a day going over math facts and grammar rules. It's these precious moments that prove the most rewarding, and can be so renewing to the whole homeschooling family. 

If the guilt of spending a lesson-free day seems anathema to your educational sense, there is no reason why learning can't be slipped into "goof off" time. An unsuspecting mind is often more fertile ground to till and plant new thoughts and ideas. The following rainy day games are a great way to sit and interact with one another as well.

Children are used to video games and TV, which are great entertainment, but are passive ways to lull away the hours. When lightning is striking, and thunder rolling in the background, the atmosphere is the perfect backdrop to a good story. It is the time to let the creative juices flow. Both students and the teacher can take turns creating a funny story, stopping at the most critical time, and having someone take over the tale. Or you could do an art activity. Fold a piece of paper in sections and pass the blank sheet to each artist, telling them what part of the body they are to draw. When the sheet is unfolded, a funny picture or caricature is revealed. You can then have your students write or tell a story about the drawing. 

Building a fort of blankets, and hiding under a table with flashlights, can produce wonderful images in the form of shadow puppets. The website Shadow Puppet has pictures depicting how to do various animals. Children can take turns performing, while another reads from an animal book or the Internet about the depicted animal. Reading adventure books can be a great way to practice oratory skills and give the educator's vocal chords a break.

There are several card games which rely on math skills in a fun way. Card games lists rules that can help remind a rusty teacher how to play again. There are also great hand-clapping games that are silly and fun to do with one another.

If you're feeling a little bit too lazy, a family time of yoga or other stretching exercises can release pent up energy. Yoga and Pilates Moves for Children has some how to information for inquiring minds. A lot of the yoga poses are influenced by animals, so have children create their own poses too.

Rainy days can be a great respite from the daily grind and intensive studying. The best part of all is that you don't have to wait for actual stormy weather to engage in the activities listen below. Lesson Planet has lots of great game lessons for additional ideas.

Rainy Day Game Lessons:

Factor Game has a game board where the factors are placed on five by six grid. Students pick numbers and decide whether it would be a good decision to make a move or not.

Games of Chance has the aboriginal games of Hubbub and Moccasin. Children learn the history of these games and how to make strategic moves.

Dice Games-How to Win uses a board, markers, and dice to teach probability. The concept is often difficult to understand and this game helps make it clearer.

Invent a Board Game has children create their own version of whatever game they would like to play. There is also a link to play an on-line version of the Mayan game of chance, Bul.

Plum Stone Dice Game is another way to teach probability. In this game students use colored stones and try to predict the outcomes.