Lose Those Winter Blahs

It’s the last day of February. I’m a homeschool mom. The holidays are over. Cold lingers. Summer is still 4 months away. (Can you hear me sighing from there?)

At my house, this means burn out. And in Iowa, it means we’ve had snow on the ground for nearly 4 months and it’s looking like we’ve got another month or more of it. All of this cabin fever, too-little-sunlight, too-cold-n-wet to play outside also means a harder time falling asleep and a mighty, might case of the winter blahs.

So add it up:

• 1 burned out homeschool mom
• 3 boybarians with total cabin fever
• 4 months of snow
• 1 month more of bad weather
• 6 weeks until Spring Break

It’s time to break up the monotony! I’ve made a list of  “Game Schooling” ideas to bring back the fun and get you through the spring fever! I’ve purposefully chosen non-electronic, non-video games here as many families already complain of too much screen time.

Darcy’s Top Five Game-Schooling resources:

Monopoly: this is math and communication. Let your 6-9 year old count money, make change and read the Community Chest cards. Your 10+ year olds can be bankers!

Yahtzee: Hey, it’s math again! Skip count those 3s. Add up the face of the dice. This game is so smart, kids have no idea how many basic math skills they are using!

Sorry: for the k-2 set, this is math. For older kids, it’s a lesson in sportsmanship.

Uno: Even my little one can get into this one. Matching colors and numbers is great for the PreK set. Easy enough for the 4-5 year old to play.

Apples to Apples: The boybarians beg to play this and laugh and laugh while we match unlikely partners of nouns with adjectives. Playful George Washington? Scary pickles? They have no idea it’s also grammar, vocabulary and spelling. As a bonus, you can use the Apple to Apple cards for a game of Pictionary on the white board. Ages: 6/7 and up. (Kids need to be decent readers to fully enjoy this game.)

I’d love to hear how you are incorporating games, activities or anything to break out of the winter blahs and keep your homeschool joyful. Please leave a comment or add your link so we can all gain some Lose Those Winter Blues Ideas.

Darcy is the mom to three boys ages 8, 7, and 5 and blogs over at Life with My 3 Boybarians. She is the owner of a blog design business at www.graphicallydesigning.com. She and Handy Man live in Iowa…nowhere near a Starbucks.

Tags: board games, break up the monotony, burn out, family games, homeschooling, indoor games, spring break, winter blues

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