December 21st marked the Winter Solstice of 2009, but there is no doubt that winter arrived early in many parts of the country.  When snow comes down at two inches per hour, shoveling isn't much use, but there is plenty of time for having fun.

While I prefer to grab a book and a cup of hot cocoa, my eight-year-old wants to "do" something.  Looking over the games in the toy closet, I realized that there are lots of ways we can have fun and sneak in a little reading.

When she was just learning to read, we would play games that combined words and pictures.  Scrabble Junior, Zingo, and picture Bingo were great for helping her fill her bank of sight words and add to her vocabulary, too.  What's Gnu is a great game for new spellers.  In the process of building three-letter words, kids learn about vowel sounds, word patterns, and how words are put together.

One of her favorite games was Space Faces, a board game where you have to match an alien face on the board with a set of specific characteristics.  It is great for building discrimination skills (the same skill you use to determine the letters  b, d and p) and concentration.  

Now that she is spelling and writing more, we can enjoy games that involve more storytelling, too.  Cranium has a series of games that engage kids in creative storytelling, drawing, and puzzles.  They are designed to include everyone, so it is a perfect selection when you've got kids of all ages.  We have the Family Fun edition, and my daughter loves to go back to some of the stories and creatures we have created.

This is also a great time to bring back some of our childhood favorites, like Hangman, Charades, and A to Z (also known as Alphabet Chase).  If you like word puzzles, there are a number of educational websites that offer Word Find and crossword puzzles.  I like edhelper.com and surfnetkids.com. 

With all the fun you can have when everyone is home together, you might surprise yourself and wish that you were "stuck" inside a little longer!