Rain Rain Go Away?

It’s been a rainy summer in the northeast. While we can’t control the weather, we can choose how we want to spend those rainy days. Here are a few ways to have some fun and be productive on rainy days while strengthening some executive function skills. 

Put away the iPad and dust off the board games! A number of board games provide fun ways to practice and develop executive function skills and prevent the summer brain drain.

• Boggle and Scrabble are great games to practice flexible thinking, time management, spelling and vocabulary.
• Chess and checkers help your child practice strategic thinking and flexibility depending on their age and how the game unfolds.
• Risk and Monopoly provide opportunities to practice long-term planning, organization, strategic thinking, and mental math.

Organize and get ready for the fall! Begin tackling all those organizational projects you’ve been putting off. Get them done with a little fun – let your child drive the process, have a Taylor Swift sing-a-long dance party while you work, go for ice cream afterward – all while practicing task initiation, planning, organizing, and self-monitoring skills! 

• Reorganize some of the most used spaces in your home like the mudroom, family room, or those pesky kitchen junk drawers to better suit the needs of your family. Identify what needs changing, devise a plan, and execute! 
• Create a big family calendar to help everyone maintain a better handle on their day and week, and to keep an eye on everyone’s schedule. 
• Redesign your child’s bedroom to create a better study space and flow for the fall. Rearranging a few key items gives it a fresh look and a feeling of control over the space.

Lots of learning can be done in fun, productive, and clever ways on a rainy summer day!