Rainy (yucky) day play ideas anyone?

[isosmom]

We just had the first rain of the season here and I'm starting to wonder what I'll be doing with these kiddos once it really starts up.
For the last 2 years, we lived in a house, with a long driveway, and a yard, (oh those were the days, oh yeah, but with my mom too, so.......). Anyhow, we didn't really have a problem with rainy days.
Now we're in a tiny apartment, and there's one more of us, ds.
I don't want to just resort to movies, yk?
Last week, once it let up for a bit, we went on a puddle walk. Dd got some of her energy out and we had a good time. (Now if I could just afford those rain boots!)
Hoping y'all have some ideas to share.

[dziejen]

When we can't go outside we cook (simple and quick is best but anything that the kids can contribute to is good), we do crafts and we play games. I also try to get my kids to play together so I can sneak in a break here and there. I guess it would depend on the ages of your children -- how old are they?

[MamaMonica]

We do crafts for a few hours every day. Today was playdough- we made the dough and the kids made a mess with it, then we baked the sculptures, which included a hat for the toy cow.

[isosmom]

Dd will be 3 in Jan and ds is almost 9 mo.
Cooking is a good one, cooked with dd twice already this week.

[beth568]

Long, middle of the day baths, with cups and spoons and anything else you can fill up with water. It rained here today, and I put DD in the big tub in our bathroom with her swimsuit on (that alone made it interesting), and she played swimming pool. She was in there for well over an hour (I'd get in with her, but I'm hugely pregnant, so I don't fit), and I just talked to her and sang songs and let her do whatever she wanted. Eventually, she asked if she could give one of her stuffed animals a bath, and I was about to refuse, but then I figured hey, he goes in the washing machine, why not the tub?

So I took out the infant bath sling (which she's been very curious about anyway, with the baby coming) and let her use it for her stuffed tiger. Also something new and exciting, and it kept her occupied for a while.

Putting on music and just dancing around can take up a lot of time for us, too.

[Scoodlebug]

We do the arts and crafts thing around here. LOTS of dress up, lots of hide and seek.

The best one is build a fort. I convert my entire living room into a fort using my couches, tables, and blankets. One day it's a castle, the next it's the roundhouse for her trains, etc. Everyday it's something different. I have found that a fort never ever fails.

[kavamamakava]

My daughter loves cutting paper into itty bitty pieces. She turned 2 in July. My son likes it too. But he's a bit more skilled and cuts out triangles, circles and squares. And then we use a glue stick and glue it to construction paper and add random things like leaves and buttons and pretty scraps of fabric. That usually takes up a good hour or two.
We also play hide and seek and build castles with castle blocks. They like to fingerpaint too. I set them up in a room with no carpet and they take a bath straight after.

[LunaMom]

Most of my ideas have already been given - we do lots of cooking on rainy days. Big pots of spaghetti sauce, pot roast, chili...things that need to cook a long time and make the house smell goooooood.

Playing with water is great. If I'm not in the mood to do the whole bath thing, I'll spread an old towel on the floor and let my daughter pull up a chair or stool to the kitchen sink and play. She can wash her dolls' hair or do whatever else.

Tape a giant piece of paper to the floor, outline your child, and have her add the details and color it! Any other arts and crafts are great, too. I once sent my daughter all around the house making crayon rubbings of different textured objects. Or if your children are old enough to use scissors, break out the old magazines and make collages.

Sometimes the computer can offer some diversions. The PBS kids website has some cute games and activites based on certain shows, or coloring sheets to print out. There's also a website called www.jigzone.com that has a huge number of pictures that you can transform into jigsaw puzzles by picking the number of pieces and the shape of the pieces. Not the same as a real puzzle on the floor, but sometimes you just need something different.

[Gracefulmom]

We do lots of crafts here, too...

But one change I've made recently is to go outside every day... NO MATTER WHAT THE WEATHER!!! (It takes a ton of self-discipline on my part. That's why I had to SHOUT that sentence!)

Being outside really helps my kids play more calmly inside. And it's fun to see what new games they think of each day.

Here's hoping you come across some great inexpensive rain boots!

[Magella]

Originally Posted by His People

We do lots of crafts here, too...

But one change I've made recently is to go outside every day... NO MATTER WHAT THE WEATHER!!! (It takes a ton of self-discipline on my part. That's why I had to SHOUT that sentence!)

Being outside really helps my kids play more calmly inside. And it's fun to see what new games they think of each day.

Here's hoping you come across some great inexpensive rain boots!

I've finally figured this out, too. The kids don't care what the weather's like-all weather is fun to them. So as long as everyone is reasonably warm (and there's no lightning), we go out. I don't particularly enjoy cold, wet days so it's hard for me-but it's so good for the kids. Even if it's only 15 minutes and their feet get wet.

So we go out for less time when it's raining or otherwise yucky, so we do need other activities. My kids' favorite? Take all the cushions off the couch, turn up the dance music, and have a loud dancing/bouncing/jumping/rolling party. Get them moving!

We also do crafts and cooking. Even have a special box of arts and crafts stuff that only gets taken out once in awhile so it's always fascinating-crepe paper streamers, yarn, fabric, glitter, and assorted other stuff. Sometimes I let them have free access to the flower and oatmeal and other cooking stuff plus water to mix up their own recipe.

ETA: Puppet shows are great too, especially when they make their own puppets. They love an audience, and as the audience I get to sit with a cup of coffee or tea

[momsgotmilk4two]

We do a lot of baking, crafts, playdough, and board games when it's rainy. We also go outside at least once a day to jump in the puddles. It's not that cold here though, so that isn't an issue for us. Last time it rained that ate up a good hour. The kids LOVE playing in the rain. I brought out thier big little tikes trucks and they ran with them, pushing them through the puddles. We also drew with chalk on the wet ground which had a neat effect. Then we came inside and they had a warm bath, some hot chocolate and then they took a good 2 hour nap.