Journal Entry

Indoor rainy-day activities for children

We’ve all seen the saying “When Mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy” splashed across T-shirts and various home decor items, but I think parents would agree that the word “the kids” should take the place of “Mama.” Miserable kids can make everyone within earshot miserable, and one of children’s chief complaints is boredom. It especially rears its ugly head on rainy days, when its victims are trapped inside. I found several activities to entertain my girls and my nephews when the weather became an enemy, and I still employ a few for my grandchildren:

Plays : Every child knows at least a few stories. Keep a few simple costumes and props around and have the kids act out a familiar story. If you don’t have enough kids, a stuffed animal can be a stand-in.

Parades : This might sound crazy, but my kids loved having indoor parades. They’d line up their stuffed dogs, plastic horses, trucks, cars, and dolls in formation down our long hall. Sometimes they’d even construct “floats” from shoe boxes and decorate them. One child would usually serve as the “marshall” and announce the procession.

Egg hunt : I used to always keep small toys and plastic Easter eggs on hand. On rainy days I’d hide the eggs around the house, and the kids would have an indoor egg hunt. Not only did the hunt itself provide entertainment; there was the added bonus of playing with all the little toys hidden in the eggs.

Magic pictures : Divide a piece of heavy white paper into random shapes with a marker. Have the kids color in the shapes with markers in a variety of colors until the whole sheet is colored. Once it’s dry, have them color the sheet with a black crayon. The children can then draw pictures on the black sheet with a toothpick or empty ballpoint pen, revealing patterns of the hidden colors beneath the black.

Golden art : Give each child a mason jar or similar container, some glue, and small items like buttons, pennies, beads, flowers, metal nuts, screws, and such. After they glue the items to their jar, blow it dry with a blow dryer. Then take the jars out to the garage and spray paint them gold. Voila! Beautiful pencil holders or objects d’art to display proudly in their rooms.

Puppets : Plain white socks, bits of yarn and felt, and google eyes can make great hand puppets. Give the kids a big piece of cardboard to decorate for a puppet stage and have them perform a show for the family.

Cardboard boxes : Kids love playing with large boxes. You can usually find discarded ones at appliance stores. My kids would play with the boxes for hours, creating houses, forts, and castles. They also loved hooking them together to make tunnels. If you can find graduated sizes, they’ll stack inside each other for storage and won’t take up much space.

Indoor camping : If you have a kid-size pop-up tent that will fit in the child’s room, great. If not, place an old sheet over the dining or kitchen table. Give them a couple of flashlights and pack them a few sandwiches and boxed drinks. This will keep them busy for hours.

Shadow puppets : My grandchildren love to go into my central hall with a flashlight, where there are no windows, and close all the doors and turn off the light. There in the dark, they make shadow puppets on the walls.

Create cool clothes : We did this last year during a rainy day at the beach, and it was a big hit with all the kids. I purchased several plain tee shirts at the dollar store. I even found some flip-flops and small handbags for a buck, too. I got some acrylic stones in different shapes, sizes, and colors, along with some small bottles of fabric paint. The kids spent a couple of hours decorating their shirts with suns, flowers, and dolphins. The boys drew mostly sharks and surf boards on theirs. After the shirts dried, they became great bathing suit cover-ups. They made palm trees on the bags, using green football-shaped stones for the fronds. There’s no need for glue. A spot of the paint will hold the stones. This is a great activity, even in the dreary winter months. It will get the kids looking forward to swimming weather, and they’ll have their own personalized beach and pool outfits ready!

Jewelry making : Give the kids some stretch string, some beads, some earring mounts, and some glue, all of which can be purchased in the craft department at a discount store or at a craft store. E6000 glue dries quickly and lasts forever. If boys are in the group, add some boyish items like small arrowheads, which can be purchased for about 50 cents each. They can create an entire accessory ensemble!

Library scavenger hunt : This works well with older kids who can read. Make a list of questions for a scavenger hunt. I always offer a small prize for the kid who turns in the first correct paper, and a group prize like ice cream or a trip for a fast food meal if everyone completes the hunt. Competition is usually fierce!

Of course, there are all the tried-and-true indoor activities like videos, board games, and computer games, but the teacher in me prefers play that encourages creativity, self-expression, and most of all, thinking! When the kids are stuck inside, keep their minds occupied, as well as their bodies!