Rainy days seem to last forever when you’re a kid-or when you’re a parent with bored children. Sure, you can turn on the television or have fun playing video games together, but these aren’t your only options. If you’re looking for non-electronic activities while you wait for the sun to come back out, we’ve got a few for you right here.
Make a Blanket Fort
Drape sheets between chairs and couches to make a billowy, fun fort. Fill the fort with pillows and spend the day inside it-not only does your new fort offer plenty of opportunity for imaginative play, it’s also a great location for many of the quieter activities on this list.
Pull out the Craft Supplies
Rainy days were made for painting, coloring, and other crafts, and thanks to the Internet, you can quickly find easy-to-make activities for little artists. In fact, you can find plenty of suggestions on this blog alone!
Coloring books lend themselves to cozy, quiet spaces, so are a great activity for inside that newly-built blanket fort. Keep a couple of new, customized coloring books and crayons on hand for when the weather turns bad, and you’ll keep little hands busy and happy.
Easy Baking
What’s better than a batch of freshly baked cookies? Cookies you helped bake of course! Baking together makes a rainy day fun, builds valuable kitchen skills, and offers opportunity to practice reading and counting. For young children, store bought pre-made cookie dough is an easy introduction to cooking, and leaves you with less mess to clean up.
Board Games and Puzzles
A rainy day’s the perfect time to pull out an old board game or favorite jigsaw puzzle. After those cookies are cool enough to eat, take a game into the blanket fort and play in there.
Play in the Rain
If you can’t beat rain, join it! Pull out the raincoats and galoshes and-if it’s not too cold outside-spend some time hunting for worms on the sidewalk, slashing in puddles, and sailing paper boats down street gutters. Just be sure to have some warm fluffy towels waiting by the door when you come in.
Have a Family Reading Party
You’re back indoors, and everyone’s dry. Now’s a great time to snuggle up with a warm drink, some blankets, a good book, and maybe some of those left-over cookies. Have children choose the books they want to read, or surprise them with a personalized book you’ve been keeping on hand for just such an occasion. You’ve turned a wet, boring day into a happy memory and all without once turning on the TV!
