Summer is a wonderful time when you are a student. You will sleep in late and enjoy many summer activities. When you head back to school, you will spend a few weeks reviewing everything you learned the previous year. While studying in the summer will not appeal to most students, there is a fun alternative to keep your mind sharp - playing board games.

There are numerous board games available. Your family may have some favorite board games and have a regular game night. If you do not, then the summer is a perfect time to start this family tradition. While it is always fun to play our favorite board games, it can be equally as fun as to explore new board games.

Word board games help to build and use your vocabulary. Board games like Scrabble, Boggle, Dabble, and Quiddler encourage players to make words. Taboo is a different word game where you have to get your teammate to guess the word without using the five best clues. Another word board game is Scattegories where players must come up with words that begin with a certain letter. Catchphrase is a fast, fun game where players try to get their teammates to guess a word or phrase.

Use your imagination and play games that are more about storytelling than winning. Games like Rory's Story Cubes gives players a chance to weave their own story. Think-ets is another story-generating game that uses objects to advance the story along. Once Upon a Time is a card game that is another good example of story-telling game play.

Games like Cranium and Apples to Apples are very fun but can also give you a chance to use your brain. Cranium involves using several skills while Apples to Apples involves thinking about the best (or possibly funniest) comparison match. These sort of board games will keep your mind active.

Using your brain over the summer break will make the beginning of the school year that much better. You can hit the ground running - reading to learn. Using board games can be a fun way to retain school skills throughout the summer.