Monday 26 October 2009

15 Rainy day activities

It's raining it's pouring ...I want to sing a sad song...Not really.
Rainy days as much as rain is needed can often be frustrating for toddlers & preschoolers ...not to mention their parents. The cabin fever sends 'tempers' soring with unacceptable behaviour . The kids behaviour can be extreme too :) .
So what do we do on rainy days - we organise stimulating activities (for mum) and the kids have fun too. Showing them extra attention helps guide us all into reasonable and calmer behaviours. The challenge is to have fun ...
  1. Bake choc chip cookies - kids can measure/stir and press choc chips in (though hard to keep them from sampling)
    125gm butter
    1/2 cup castor sugar
    1/2 cup brown sugar
    1teas vanilla essence
    1 egg
    1 & 1/2 cups of self raising flour
    3/4 cup milk & white choc chips
    • preheat oven 160 °C
    • cream sugar & butter until fluffy & light
    • mix in egg & vanilla essence
    • stir in flour and mix well
    • add half the choc chips and mix in
    • put teaspoonfuls - or bigger onto a baking tray lined with baking paper , press more choc chips into the top and flatten them slightly, bake for 10-12 mins depending on size.
    • remove from oven and sit for at least 2mins :) .They might still be soft when you remove them from oven but should firm up and still be chewy, for crisper cookies cook a few mins more.
    Don't eat them all at once !

  2. Make playdough and create .
  3. Puzzles ... jigsaws or other , or cut and make your own from magazines.
  4. Indoor cubbies using kitchen table /chairs or lounges and have an indoor picnic (use a rug pegged down by table legs to contain any crumbs)
  5. Make the tall block towers (then knock them down if safe) or crazy constructions from duplo/lego or megablocks ...
  6. Play hide n seek (if only have one child use teddies to hide and seek)
  7. Threading necklaces - breakfast fruit rings (if you like 'colours') / Cheerios or plain pasta.
  8. Stickers ...buy a few different of the small booklets of 180 and give a sheet of each design.
  9. Trainsets or teasets ...make a huge track and then go on a pretend trip and teaset picnic.
  10. Balloon volley ball .. tie a piece of string or rope ? between door handles / chairs and have the kids hit it back & forth.
  11. Look at photo albums of them as a baby or videos.
  12. Boxes ...boxes ...what's in a box
  13. Indoor obstacle course with pillows to climb over / crawl under tables /chairs in/out baskets or boxes/around whatever goes.
  14. Dress ups
  15. Make paper boats , put on their gumboots (rainboots) and raincoats or polar fleece clothes and let them jump in puddles/float a boat and when cold & wet or you have had enough come inside for a warm bath ;).
I hope the people (farmers across our drought stricken land) who really need rain are getting some of it !
It also hasn't rained for a while so the accumulation of oil on the highways/freeways causes a mess when the rain comes tumbling down.
Please drive safely and slow down to being involved in 'accidents'.
People should realize that it takes longer for a car to stop on wet surfaces, and not be surprised when they crash into the car in front of them ...or worse.


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7 comments :

tiff(threeringcircus) said...

We have been making Christmas presents for preschool teachers today. It has saved my sanity.

carly said...

Great list!

I made a similar one:

http://childrensresourcesgalore.blogspot.com/2009/06/rainy-days.html

Marilyn said...

Great list Trish, and well-timed. It's like winter again.

Jayne said...

No rain down here in Melb, the week is working up to being a scorcher by Thursday.
Enjoy your rain!

Frogdancer said...

If only teenagers preparing for their English exam in three days would like these sorts of activities....

They might alleviate some of the nerves.

Maxine said...

Thanks for the ideas. We love sticking and pasting and playdough rainy days over at my house. I'm just starting out my motherhood blog and have been trawling the blogosphere looking for blogs I like to add to my blogroll. Yours is fantastic. I wonder if you would mind if I linked to it?

Keri said...

Great ideas for a rainy day! Couldn't help but notice in the cookie recipe you measured your butter in grams. I've never seen that before.... Then again, I live in Michigan. There is a lot I haven't seen. :)

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