In reading my friends Facebook posts today, I noticed that
only teachers are excited about the Hurricane Days. Parents with other jobs are less than
enthusiastic about the prospect of two days off from school, with the
possibility of no power. So as a public
service, I have decided to provide you with a list of low-tech, literacy
activities to engage kids for the duration of Hurricane Sandy. 
Admittedly, you might want to save your flashlight
batteries, but if you've been watching the news for the past week, you've been
warned to stock up. So you can build a
tent from blankets and chairs and read some good books by flashlight. The best picture books to read in a blanket
tent are Owl Moon by Jane Yolen and Brave Irene by William
Steig. For big kids, I’d recommend Hatchet
by Gary Paulsen and The Underneath by Eva Ibbotson. Some other options are books about
storms. I love Thundercake by
Patricia Polacco, and if you haven’t lost power yet, Polacco includes her
grandmother’s recipe at the back of the book.
It’s beyond my abilities in the kitchen, but I have a friend who made it
for her class, and it was delicious.
Tomatoes are the secret ingredient.
There’s also Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi
Barrett. You might steer clear of
non-fiction until the storm is over, but Gail Gibbons, Seymour Simon, National
Geographic and DK Readers write great non-fiction about storms and hurricanes,
in particular. 
Another option is to raid the Halloween candy early. (Let’s face it; Halloween is going to be a
wash, anyway.) Hide individual pieces
around the house and write clues or a draw a treasure map for your kids to
follow and find them. If they're older,
it’s even better, because they can write the clues themselves and maybe you can
get a load of laundry done. There are
tons of books about treasure hunting ranging from Dora the Explorer to 
You can play the alphabet game with hurricane words. If your child is in fourth grade, A is for
anemometer and B is for barometer (It’s fourth grade curriculum.) If they’re younger, A is for all the lights
went out and B is for blowing wind.
Scattegories is another option.
Even if you don’t have the game, you can make up your own categories and
choose a letter of the alphabet. I found
a Scattegories app for my phone last summer, and my cousins and I turned it
into a drinking game.
My last suggestion is the silliest, but when my sister and I
were little, it was our favorite. My mom
made flashcards with sight words for us.
(She was a teacher, too.) She
taught us one a day. Then when Dad came
home at night, he’d quiz us on the flashcards.
When we got the words right, we took them and built a circle on the
floor. When the circle was complete, we
pretended it was a swimming pool, jumped in and “swam” around. We've played the same game with my niece, my
mom used it with her kindergartners, and I even play a version with my 4th
and 5th graders. They roll
dice, and read the number of flashcards they roll. The person who reads the most . . .
wins. For some reason, kids love
it. Happy Hurricane Days and stay safe.
Books to Read During a Hurricane
Owl Moon by Jane Yolen
Brave Irene by William Steig
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
The Underneath by Eva Ibbotson
Thundercake by Patricia Polacco
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett
Storms by Seymour
Simon
Hurricanes by Seymour
Simon
National Geographic Readers: Storms by Miriam Goin
Hurricanes! By Gail Gibbons
DK Eyewitness Books: Hurricane and Tornado by Jack
Challoner
The Magic School Bus: Inside a Hurricane by Joanna
Cole
The Magic School Bus: Kicks up a Storm by Nancy White
Judy Moody and Stink: The Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Treasure
Hunt by Megan McDonald
Mayflower Treasure Hunt (A-Z Mysteries) by Ron Roy
Skippyjon Jones and the Treasure Hunt by Judy
Schachner
Dora’s Treasure Hunt by Alison Inches
My Mermaid Counting Book by Sue Hendra
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