rainy day
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Can’t go outside? No problem!
We’ve been dealing with a lot of haze from Canadian wildfires this summer, which has meant spending more time inside than we might like. I thought it might be helpful to share a trick that has worked so well for me on those days that you just can’t go outside. This is a post that was originally written in 2015, and it was intended for rainy day ideas – but it could definitely work for any long stretch of days where you’re stuck inside! You can read the original post here. One of the best things that I’ve done for my classroom is to put together a rainy day box.…
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Preparing for Snow Days
Now that my daughter is in elementary school snow days have a totally different meaning! Last week her school had 2 (TWO!) fog days in a row after an already scheduled two-hour delay day. I’m not complaining about the fog days, I fully support the school in keeping children safe, I am however realizing that I need to be a little more prepared in order to keep her busy, and myself sane, on these days! Fog days were easy, once the fog lifted we were able to go do things, like visit the library. Snow days in our area are a different beast – I don’t want to…
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Friday Freebie – Rainy Day
Happy Friday !This week has been all about getting back into the swing of things – and keeping it fun at the same time. I’ve shared a couple of my go-to activities for making the most of not so fun days (fort building and obstacle courses!) and today’s freebie fits that theme perfectly. This Rainy Day Activities book from TeachersStore is full of fun ideas for the classroom. Download your copy and then check out this other great rainy day idea:Banish boredom with a rainy day box
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Classroom Obstacle Courses
Yesterday I posted tips for one of my favorite rainy afternoon activities – fort building. Today I’m sharing the activity that I keep in my other pocket – obstacle courses. The trick to a good obstacle course is to include elements that will be challenging, but not so difficult that the children can’t do them. When I create an obstacle course I use items that are already in my classroom, but I try to think of ways that they can be used differently – chairs become tunnels that they have to slither through, pillows become stepping stones, and rulers are for jumping over. This gets the children excited about the…
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Fort Building!
I mentioned earlier this week that the weather around here has been crummy – that’s kind of how spring goes in Ohio. It’s either still cold or raining – either way, we don’t get as much time outside as I would like. This makes everyone a little cranky, and some afternoons are just difficult. When those days happen I throw the plans out the window and we build forts. The children love, love, love this, and I know that they are still using problem solving and social skills, so it’s a great team building activity. Since these afternoons are somewhat spontaneous, there are a few things that I try to…
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Banish boredom with a rainy day box
One of the best things that I’ve done for my classroom is to put together a rainy day box. This is a fairly large tub of games, activities, and art supplies that only come out on rainy days. Now, when I say rainy days, I don’t necessarily mean days that are literally rainy (although sometimes I do bring it out when it’s raining – are you confused yet?), this box is for those days that everyone is just grumpy, or days when the activities I have planned just aren’t working out, sometimes I use it on days when I’m feeling crummy – just to lighten the mood in the classroom.…
