Summer Rainy Day Educational Activities

With school over for the year, the summer is a wonderful time to enjoy the fresh air with family, friends or at camp. Unfortunately from time to time, the weather doesn't cooperate and we go inside for a rainy day.

While we always hope for nice weather over the summer, a rainy day is a wonderful opportunity to play indoor educational games and work on avoiding the summer slide.

Don't let a rainy day spoil the fun - here are 7 educational games and activities to play indoors:

1) Make a Collages:  Find old magazines, newspapers and catalogs and work with your kids to find pictures of animals, food, sites and other fun items.  Give them safety scissors and glue to make a collage book.

2) Create a Story: Work with your child to create a short about anything s/he is interested in.  Then one of you provides an opening line and you take turns to write sentences.   After you have both written the sentences, read the story out load together.

3) Scavenger Hunt: Make a list of items to either i) find around the house or ii) research in books, magazines or online.  Once your child has found all the items, present him or her a prize at the end.

4) Play a Family Board Game:  Board games are a wonderful way to bring the family together to spend time and remove everyone from technology.   They also teach counting, memory, logic and vocabulary development.  Here are some great recommendations from Parents Magazine.

5) Pick a Country and Learn About It:  If you have a globe, spin it around and see where your finger lands.  Learn about the language (hello / goodbye), popular food and even try to write a few letters.

6) Read a New Book Together:  Keep up your reading from the school year and learn new vocabulary and more complicated story lines.

7) Try a New Craft Project:  Pinterest has wonderful craft ideas for kids.  Scroll through the hundreds of photos and see which one you like best!