Here are a few activities that can be done indoors to help with those blah-weather days!
Have a treasure hunt: If your kids are older, hide things around the house with clues attached to each thing. Write down clues as to where the next thing might be hiding. The end result could be a plate of snacks for an afternoon snack! If your children are younger, you can attach pictures as the clues.
Play some paper ball: Ball up a bunch of pieces of paper. Use newspaper, coloring pages, whatever it is that you won't use. I like to play paper ball with a laundry basket. We set up the laundry basket in one spot and move it further and further as we make our baskets :) It's basically basketball with paper and baskets. Any baskets will work. You can even use rolled up socks and baskets. Be creative...make it fun!
Make videos: I have a seven year old and a six year old that are total hams! I allow them to use my phone to make videos of each other acting stuff out and being silly. I let the younger ones in on the action by allowing them to take parts in the theatrics!
Make an obstacle course: Set up some blocks, couch cushions, blankets, hula hoops, cardboard boxes,...be creative! Make an obstacle course for the children to compete in.
Play with balloons: When we were younger we used to blow up a few balloons and dive around the house trying to keep them off the floor. We used to pretend the world would end if it touched the ground and we would enact the blowing up of the world. This is fun and can be modified for kids of all ages.
Crafts are always fun: Do a variety of crafts. I like to take cardboard boxes and make little houses. We use paint and I have the kids walk on paper and make prints all over. This can be very messy, so I always am very careful to section off an area and be prepared for messy fun!
Play board games: Now is a great time to pull out those board games and put them to good use! A few of my favorites: Chutes and Ladders, Yahtzee, Hi Ho Cherry-O, and Candy Land.
If all else fails...go get wet! There is nothing more fun that splashing and getting dirty in the puddles. It takes me a bit to ease into it (I hate muddy messes), but there is nothing like the smiles and giggles I get from 15 minutes of splashing! I took them outside today after school to do some good splashing...they were thrilled. They came in muddy and mucky, but there was not a sad face in the bunch!
What do you do with your family? As mommys, we can always use new ideas!
1 comment:
There is nothing like a really good story time in our house. I have my daughter, who is older, read to me, and have my younger daughter interject with imaginative story ideas! Sometimes, if the reading gets a bit boring (two or three days in the house will do that) we make characters out of popsicle sticks and tell their stories. Sock puppets are fun too!
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