From Cabin Fever to Classroom Fun: Simple Tricks for Engagement!
Ah, February. The holiday buzz is long gone, and the excitement of spring still feels out of reach. Maybe you’ve already burned through a couple of snow days (thanks, January deep freeze!), or perhaps you were fortunate enough to turn those into cozy work-from-home days. But here we are—stuck in the mid-winter rut. The kids aren’t exactly thrilled about school, and let’s face it, the daily grind is feeling a little more “blah” than usual.
So, the big question: How do you keep the momentum going? How do you keep your students engaged and avoid the dreaded pitfall of endless notes and worksheets? Homeschool parents, I see you nodding in agreement—this struggle is real at home, too! Whether it’s cabin fever or just plain boredom, kids everywhere are restless. And let’s be honest: it’s all too easy to fall into the cycle of a little work followed by way too much screen time. Sound familiar?
Here’s a game-changer: chunk your learning.
Breaking lessons into smaller, more manageable pieces can work wonders, especially during this time of year when attention spans are short, and energy is even shorter. If your day is thrown off by a two-hour delay or an assembly, don’t panic. Instead of cramming in a full-blown lesson, focus on just one or two key points. Teaching solving equations? Stick with one-step problems rather than trying to tackle one-step, two-step, and multi-step equations in one sitting.
For homeschoolers, this strategy works beautifully too. Concentrate on one subject or activity at a time, and don’t stress about covering everything in one go. You’ll be amazed at how much more your kids retain when they’re not overwhelmed by information overload. Plus, smaller chunks of learning leave more room for exploration and practice, which is where the magic happens!
Speaking of the wiggles (and no we don’t mean the four colorful ones) but when your kiddos can’t seem to be still, what can you do? Maybe you just need a short break so that you cannot lose the momentum of the lesson but get them back involved. Try brain breaks – now these can look different depending on the day and what is going on. One of the things that we like to do are Would You Rather Questions. We have used these in the middle of the lesson but also at the beginning just to get some of the talking out before we get started with the lesson itself. There are tons of WYR questions available on the internet. We like to print them out and keep them handy so then we can keep track of what questions we have already asked. For high school or middle school, here are two of our favorite links to use:
1) From Love to Know :
200+Epic Would You Rather Questions for Teens
2) From Kayla Rutledge on Signup Genius:
100 Would you Rather Questions for Teens
For younger elementary age, we created a fun sheet with some would you rather questions. You can download it on TPT for free! You can even have your students write their own and put in a jar that you can draw one out of whenever you need a break. Doing something like this really gets the students invested in the questions and answers. They get so excited when their question is the one that is drawn out of the jar.
Get the Full Downloadable Version Here.
So, whether you’re dealing with shortened school days, restless kiddos, or just the mid-February blues, remember: less can truly be more. Keep things simple, stay flexible, and embrace the power of small wins. Your students (and your sanity) will thank you for it!
If you’ve used these "Would You Rather" questions—or any other fun learning breaks—to refocus your kiddos, we’d love to hear about it! Share your experience in the comments or drop us a message at maniacmathies@gmail.com. We can’t wait to hear from you!
Have a Fabulous Day!
-Anna and Megan
