My mom used to tell me there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing. And whilst an element of this is true, there are some days when all you want to do is stay warm and cozy indoors.
However, as anyone with young children will know, staying in all day when you have children can be somewhat less than relaxing! Toy boxes are overturned, important documents are drawn on, and closets are emptied over the floor as bored children can very quickly turn mischievous unless they are kept entertained. Here are some fun indoor activities to help you make the most of the rainy days – you might even have a little fun along the way:
Newspaper Fashion
A firm favorite rainy day camp activity, the newspaper fashion game is a hit with both girls and boys. All you need is several newspapers, a pair of scissors and some masking tape.
Start by giving each player or team of two a stack of newspaper (at least 8 sheets), a pair of scissors, and 20 minutes to create a wearable newspaper outfit. Tip: Roll sheets of newspaper into tubes, flatten them, and tape them together for sturdy base pieces and accessories, such as waistbands, hat bands, belts and more.
When the time is up, have players take turns striding the catwalk to show off their fashions. Take it one step further by allotting prizes for “Most Creative,” “Funniest,” “Most Likely to be Seen in a Fashion Magazine,” and other silly categories.
Make Play dough
Everyone loves play dough and it’s so quick and easy to make there is no need to spend your hard earned dollars buying it from the store. Play dough can be whipped up with ingredients from your store cupboard. All you need is:
3 cups of flour
1.5 cups of salt
6 tsp cream of tartar
3 tbsp oil
3 cups of water
Food coloring (optional)
Vanilla or peppermint essence (optional)
Put all ingredients into a large, sturdy saucepan. Stir continuously over a medium heat until dough forms. Remove from the pan and knead until the consistency is play-dough like. Leave to cool before giving it to the kids.
Movie Afternoon
We all know that too much TV is unhealthy for our children, but curling up with your kids on the sofa to watch a family movie can be a great way to spend time together. Make some homemade popcorn, turn out the lights and close the curtains. Who needs an expensive cinema trip?
Make a magazine
Collect your old magazines and let your children cut out their favorite pictures, words and phrases, then use these to create new magazines. Hand-drawn pictures are also a great addition , and you could encourage children to make their own word-searches or cross words, just like a real magazine.
Finding fun, free and educational activities is something that the whole family can get involved with.
This post was brought to you by Cyndee over at Rude Mom…Cyndee is a mom of 3, one with Autism as his Super Power, trying to make her way through college and life with MS and without getting multiple restraining orders…Living in Mt. Airy, N.C and married to her best friend and sidekick Jack, aka Not-So-Rude-Dad…..
Stephanie Phelps says
Oh my gosh I love the newspaper fashion idea! I run out of so many ideas and what a creative one this is thank you so much for the helpful ideas~
Jennifer S says
I kind of loved playing in the rain as a kid… can’t always do that, so these are great ideas!
Maria Iemma says
I love the create fashion using a newspaper – never thought of it but what a great activity! I appreciate your post very much — always looking for ideas to entertain the kids!
Andrea Amy says
Awesome ideas!! LOVE the playdoh one. Never would have thought to add peppermint or anything like that! Thanks for the tip!!
amy says
These are all great ideas especially the last – genuis – making your own word find. We have more hot days then rainy days where you look up the weather and it says 95 and then right beside that it says – feels like 105 due to humidity i guess. I am on medicines that make me really sensitive to sun…think burning and migraines even with high spf and hats…so we spend a lot of time at local mcdonalds – and indoors. We have no yard being in an apartment and we are very close to major roads – he’s just too young @ six to be out in an apartment complex on his own. What seemed ideal at first being close to base and turned out to be less then ideal lol. So I am always on the lookout for ideas like this!
Penelope says
Love the newspaper fashion!! And the magazine! So much fun!!
Kate F. says
These are great ideas! My niece and nephew would have a lot of fun making a magazine out of other magazines.
Sherry Compton says
Can’t go outside – bring out the crafts. You don’t even have to spend a lot of money on them. My grandson loves cutting up cereal boxes and making robots. Another good thing to do is family game day or book day. Keeps kids occupied and fun for all.
Emily says
These Look like fun
Ashleigh Swerdfeger says
I will definitely be adding these to my activity list. I am pinning these for future use. As well, there was quite ideas I have never thought about before. I also really appreciate the playdough recipe.
Leah McHan says
I’ll have to try some of these the next rainy day or something.
Mer says
Some great ideas, especially newspaper fashion show!