A Life In Review

Spring has officially begun meaning that rainy season is right around the corner. I guess it depends where you live, but in New England, spring brings a LOT of rain and a LOT of days stuck inside. This post has been in the works since last spring. It rained so much all the way into June last year. I had plenty of time to come up with rainy day activities (other than sitting in pajamas, watching Netflix and eating cookies, which is also a great option).

While I have a goal to spend more time outside this year, I know that we will have rainy days where I have to fill up my time with my little one. It’s hard to feel trapped inside with “nothing to do”, so below you will find 5 ideas to get you started. I have laid this post out the same way that I lay out all of my activity posts, so you know the drill! As always, before you go out and spend a ton of money check your local discount store (Dollar Tree, Dirt Cheap, Ollies, etc.).

Giant Sticker Book/ Sticker Activity: I know that stickers are overwhelming sometimes, but for some reason they keep my toddler entertained forever. It’s such a simple activity for a rainy day and it was actually my first idea for this post. I will say though, that you cannot give this activity to your younger kiddos and walk away (my toddler likes to eat them), but it would keep 4-6 year olds entertained for a minute while you drink some coffee.
What You’ll Need: A Bunch of Stickers || Blank Paper || Crayons (optional) || Sticker
Activity Book (if you want all the work done for you, linked here).
Directions: Seriously I don’t need to give you directions. Just give them the stickers and
let them get creative or just stick them around on paper. A toddler tip though, is to stick
them ALL OVER your toddler. My daughter loves this because then she gets to pull them
all off ofherself. If you have creative kiddos they can even use the crayons to make a
story with their stickers.

Lunch In a Fort: This one seems kind of lame, but some of my favorite childhood memories would could be considered totally lame, yet I still look on them fondly. I loved having picnics in the living room, and building forts under the dining room table. That is where my idea came from for this “activity”. This activity will work for most ages, which makes it fun. It will just take a little extra planning!
What You’ll Need: Finger Food Lunch || Furniture (either couches or table) || Lanterns
|| Blankets and Sheets
Directions: When I said this would take planning, I didn’t really mean that you’d need
directions, I just meant that you need to plan out the food in advance. I would also
suggest from personal experience, to remove valuables from the room where the kids
are building the fort, so that if something falls, it doesn’t get broken. You really don’t
need any further instructions. Let them build the fort, provide the food and probably
a lantern.

Rock Painting: My sister loved to play with rocks as a kid. They were never my thing, but I see rock painting kits all the time in the stores, so someone must like them. This also seemed like a really great indoor activity. If your kids are part of that someone, then this is the activity for you. AND, you don’t have to keep this project in the house when they are done, so it’s really a win win.
What You’ll Need: Flat, Smooth Rocks || Paint Brushes || Paint || Paper Towels ||
Cup of Water || Rock Painting Kit (optional)
Directions: If you want to keep this SUPER simple, you can just buy yourself a rock
painting kit (linked above). If you want to do it yourself, there will be more work. First
you will need to find your kids some small, flat and nicely smooth rocks (that way
there is less frustration when painting for the little ones). Rinse the rocks and make sure
they are dry before the kids are ready to paint them. Give each kid some paint, a cup of
water and a paint brush. You should put down some paper towels or something
underneath them because kids are messy (Pro Tip: I saw online that if they get paint
on your wood table, sunscreen gets it out). Once they are done, set them somewhere
to dry. When it’s finally sunny again outside they can bring them outside wherever you
feel comfortable letting rocks live.

Indoor Scavenger Hunt: I think that this is my favorite of all the activities on here. There are so many ways to do this, but the easiest way is to just buy a pre-made kit and follow their directions. If you choose to make your own, this is how I suggest doing it. Also I am gearing this toward kids 4-7. You can have as little or as many kids participate as you’d like.
What You’ll Need: Blank Index Cards || Markers || A Prize
Directions: Decide ahead of time where you want the kids searching so that you can set
some parameters for them. I would suggest sticking to one floor of the house. They won’t
be looking for a specific item, but rather an item that matches the description on the
card. The game will go like this: You will take a card and read it out to the kids. Each card
will say something like “Find me something that has laces” the first person to find you
something that has laces will yell out “found” and you will go check. If they are right, they
get to keep the card. Whoever gets 10 cards first, wins the prize (you can make it harder
if 10 cards is to quick). The clues on what to find can be as hard or easy as you see fit.
If you have all older kids I suggest making things more challenging. Most importantly
have fun with this, and make sure to have the cards written out ahead of time!

Indoor Mega Ball Pit Fight: I know that you can buy a toddler sized ball pit on the internet, but it really doesn’t fit anyone over the age of 3. So I was trying to figure out a way for the older kids (and the adults) to have some ball pit fun, but not in the disgusting germ filled way that you can a Chuck-E-Cheese: ** disclaimer: this one isn’t going to be the cheapest activity unless you can borrow some of the ball pit balls from friends **
What You’ll Need: A Big Empty Space || Multicolored Ball Pit Balls || Enough
Cardboard to Block off A Room
Directions: This game isn’t for the little ones, let’s start with that. It will involve air filled
plastic balls being thrown across the room at other people. Think back to your years
in elementary school gym class. Back when we were allowed to play dodgeball and
life was simple. That’s where I’m going with this. You will start with an open space.
For us, that would be the living room. Start by moving the furniture out of the way
so that everyone can fit comfortably on the floor. Hide anything that is breakable in the
room because there will be balls flying. If you have a doorway, put the cardboard in it
so that the balls don’t leave the room (we have an open floor plan, but if you have a
room with a door, just close the door obviously). Fill the room with the balls. The rules
are basically this: no one is going to cry if they get hit (that ruins the game), if you get
hit 3 times (I say 3 because there aren’t many people playing so the game would end
really quickly otherwise) you are out, last person sanding wins. Here is the tricky(ish)
part, each person has to choose one color ball and that is the only color that they are
allowed to use. No one can sort the balls in the beginning, they all need to be mixed.
If you are brave enough to try this indoor, you must be really bored AND you must
be the coolest parents EVER.

Some of these activities are bigger than others. Go with what you as a parent can handle that day. If you are feeling fun and adventurous, then go big, if you want to have a rest day and binge a show, choose some of the smaller activities that the kids can do independently. I was going to give you a bigger list of things to do, but there are so many on the internet. I chose some of my favorites and yet again pulled them together in the hopes of helping create lasting family memories. You don’t need to go big to impress your kids, they’ll remember the big for sure, but from experience, I know that they will also remember the mundane rainy days too.