The most fun I had in school was doing ‘sciency things’ that taught me science, and I wasn’t even aware I was learning ’cause it all felt so amazing.
And that was without the use of computers and apps, and I only had a collection of Encyclopedia Britannica and my quest for knowledge to find interesting facts (encouraged by the thought of getting a badge in Girl Scouts).
Today, there is no lack of information, and it’s all at the touch of a button. It feels like a computer can ‘get’ you the information to a question, but that does not feel the same as discovering things for yourself.
The instant gratification demanded by kids these days, the need to know things NOW, kinda kills the vibe. Kids regurgitate information that comes up on a screen, but there is not much actual learning and comprehension happening.
Wouldn’t it be a cool activity to make up games that allow everyone to learn new apps, how to use them, and find information that will, I don’t know, help plan a party or sporting event?
It’s a clever way to engage children in fun, learning, and spending valuable family time.
Fun With Learning
Most kids are super curious about the world.
A zillion questions about the outside world are fired at you while little noses are pressed against cool window panes.
Why is it raining? How does thunder work? Ohh, look at that lightning, can it hurt me? Is it magic? Was it raining the day I was born? Will it be raining on my birthday? Can we go to the beach tomorrow?
Make it a game… turn these questions into a fun, scientific investigation.
Dive into the fascinating world of real historical data about the weather, forecasting, and predictions that inspire a mind to blossom and can turn your kids (and you) into mini meteorologists who are curious and honing their investigative science skills.
The Birthday Weather Game
The Goal of the Game:
What was the weather on the day you were born? AND, what will the weather be on the date of your party?
The mission: The Lead Investigator needs to pull up a weather API, such as the one offered by the Visual Crossing weather service, and pull up their user-friendly weather history tool.
- Have them type in what city they were born in and their birthdate.
- Go over the results together. What was the high temperature? What was the low? What were the weather conditions? Was there any precipitation, was it partly sunny, or was there a chance of showers?
- The Lead Investigator has to report findings to the ‘gang’ about the day they were born(and maybe their friend’s DOB as well), BUT there is a birthday event coming up as well, so everyone needs to know what kind of weather is predicted for the day.
This can be done as a Zoom call to everyone or in an email invitation as a News Report. Have fun with it all. Let them do the discovery and ask their millions of questions.
It could become a yearly thing to do just for fun. Change it up, what was the wind doing that day, the year of birth, and what was it doing the year you turned ten, that kind of thing.
Actually, I might start doing this for myself every year!
In the meantime, they have learned climatology. And there can be fun chats about what average temperatures mean, and expected precipitation.
The Perfect Day Out Game
The Goal of the Game:
All Investigators need to find out which day will be perfect for a picnic in the park and a bike ride sometime in the next 14 days.
Using the 15-day forecast, find out which day is ideal!
Investigators, here’s your mission:
- Find a detailed forecast that provides more than just icons; you want to see what the daily highs are, what the probability of precipitation is. And what is the wind speed?
- Help them create a chart for the upcoming days and give each day a rating from 1 to 5 depending on the wind, high temperatures, and PP(probability of precipitation).
- The day with preferred conditions wins.
A little data analysis lesson and understanding why a windy day is fun for kite flying, but maybe not for a picnic.
How great it would be to choose a date for an important event! Hope it’s a day to remember.
The Backyard Historian Game
The Goal of the Game:
On this day in the year XXXX, was the summer hotter than last year? Rainier? Windy?
The Investigator’s mission:
- Using the historical weather tool, pull up data for the years, months, and days in question.
- Read the tables and make a bar graph that shows rain per month or tracks summer highs over a number of years. Anything like that. This keeps the game fresh and fun.
- Kids get a glimpse of how to get answers to big questions.
The Global Climate
When they are ready, expand their horizons and have them compare weather to famous places, disasters, or anomalies.
The Goal of the Game: What weather is happening in Paris right now? Or, what weather event led to the Irish Potato Famine, and what modern society can learn from that?
The Investigator’s mission:
- Find real-time or historical data for global locations.
- Find the current conditions or historical averages to determine what was going on weather-wise back in the Irish Potato Famine days, or how the wind is affecting the fires in California, that sort of thing.
This could be finding out if the weather where Auntie Laura lives is the same as home.
Sneaking in a little geography and social studies. It is also an eye-opener to the fact that there are climate zones; for instance, it’s winter here, but it’s summer in Australia.
Doesn’t that peak curiosity and wonder?!
Storm Chasers Game
Suppose your child has ever seen movies like ‘The Greatest Storm’. Or ‘Twister’, they may be curious about the power of the weather.
The Goal of the Game:
Create a simulation of a storm or follow a storm (from your safe sofa) and become a storm chaser.
The Investigator’s mission:
- Choose a well-known historical storm (a real one, not a movie one) like Hurricane Katrina or a major blizzard in the recent past.
- Use the weather platform to look up the key details: what path it took, how the central pressure changed, and, in the case of the hurricane, where the worst damage was done and why.
Emotional and powerful lessons on the force of nature and weather in real-world circumstances, hopefully eliminating fear and instead seeking answers on how to diminish the damage.
Conclusion
See, learning can be fun and rewarding.
Innovations in AI and useful apps are opening up a world that we have not known yet. Get kids interested in the fun of learning and encourage them to venture into the sciences, as this is a field that’ll grow and grow.
Telling grandpa and grandma about what they actually learned and what they can do with what they’ve ‘leveled up’!
2 Interlinking Opportunities:
From https://www.ourkidsmom.com/iconic-games-your-children-can-learn-from/ with anchor the most popular games
From https://www.ourkidsmom.com/games-can-actually-be-great-for-kids/ with anchor most games have some sort of value
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