Thumballs: Interactive Fun & Learning

Every homeschooling mother is going to have areas they are weak in and my weakest area is definitely physical education in the winter. In the spring, summer, and fall it is easy to find physical education activities to do like hiking, riding bikes, swimming at the beach, or playing baseball or soccer in the back yard. I really struggle with physical education in the winter because we live in the North and I dislike the cold. We go sliding, skating, and cross country skiing every once in a while, but not enough to qualify as weekly PE. I was very happy to discover the "Move Your Body" Thumball. As you can see in the example to the left, the Thumball has many panels, each with a different movement activity. The game is simple in that you throw someone the Thumball and after they catch it, they look under their thumb and act out what is written on that panel. My kids loved playing with the Thumball and we acted out the movements together. There was lots of laughter and I even worked up a sweat. The movement activities are a great way to help develop a child's gross motor skills and a fun way to get some exercise inside the house.

There are lots of other Thumballs that would be great for a kinesthetic learner or just a good way to reinforce a variety of concepts for all learners. The Thumballs I was most interested in were "Numbers", "My ABC's", "Parts of a Story", and "Tell The Tale". I think homeschooling or church groups would have fun using the "Ice Breaker" and "Who Are You" Thumballs which provide a fun and active ways for children to get to know each other. You can learn more about Thumballs here.