The Holy Grail of Rainy Day Activities for Kids

The Holy Grail of Rainy Day Activities for Kids

Cat-and-dog weather days happen all the time and as a parent, it’s those times you find yourself wondering what rainy day activities for kids you can come up with. I am going to show you exactly what can keep those bored pent-up bundles of energy entertained, excited & educated all at the same time.

As a parent and grandparent, I decided to do a lot of research on rainy day activities for kids and I left no stone unturned. I wanted to find or create something that would involve a more fun & spirited activity than traditional finger painting and making paper mache, both of which are great by the way.

My problem and perhaps yours as well, has always been having enough time to think through, plan out and then put together the things necessary for worthwhile exciting kid’s activities. It can actually be painstaking. To be honest, some of my “creations” weren’t quite so exciting…lol

But I wanted to come up with something that would initiate more interaction between the child and the activity and incorporate an educative element as well. What I found was nothing short of dynamically engaging!

See the BabbaBox: A new, all-in-one activity box for kids from BabbaCo!

Planning Rainy Day Activities for Kids? How About Thinking Inside The Box!

Let me introduce you to Jessica Kim. She founded an enterprising company called Babbaco. “Babbabox” became the product that evolved into one of the most brilliant preschool kids learning & interactive arts and crafts concepts I have ever seen.

Babbabox is a theme based box of projects that provide activities, experiences and plenty of knowledge with absolutely everything needed to carry out each project. The theme part is particular fun, and there are themes for each month of rainy day activities for kidsthe year.

I had seen that Jessica Kim and the Babbabox product have been showcased on the Rachel Ray Show, Good morning America and even the Baby Blog on People.com.

Now I am not normally bowled over by these types of television accolades for various products and such.  But once I looked into it, I was blown away by how much thought and study has gone into the development of Babbabox.

They have real experts that range from physical therapists, a Doctor of Childhood philosophy, a preschool teacher as well as parents. I guess if you’re going to plan rainy day activities for kids, having these types of people onboard is a can’t miss approach!

 

What Kids Activities are in The Box & How it Works

This is really cool. The monthly boxes are centered on 4 components

  • Create – up to 3 projects kids can do using their hands
  • Explore – your child can encounter nature and the world through a theme based product
  • Story tell – special books that are specifically designed to energize your child’s creativity
  • Connect – a learning experience that is both interactive & educational done using prepaid downloads. These have the Babbaco expert stamp of approval.

This Holy Grail for kids, as I refer to it, helps them learn, interact and become confident in themselves at an age when they need it most.

Although I set out to find some active and educational rainy day activities for kids, I ended up finding so very much more.

See the BabbaBox: A new, all-in-one activity box for kids from BabbaCo!

Michael J.

Try These Rainy Day Activities For Kids at Home

Add This to Rainy Day Activities For Kids at Home

 

rainy day activities for kidsIt is fascinating how incredibly proud kids get when they accomplish something for the first time. It could be a game, reading a story out loud or singing a song. Rainy day activities for kids at home are many but one stands out to me as number one!

Reading is a fantastic activity to cultivate your child’s intelligence. Studies have shown that the higher a preschoolers IQ, the more that child displays a greater confidence and a well balanced disposition, especially in unfamiliar settings.

Spend as much time reading with your child as you can. Any rainy day activities for kids should include some sort of reading component, and writing for that matter. You can read a novel, read out a recipe together or how about creating a shopping list together. We make out lists all the time, why not get your preschooler involved early on.

Get the BabbaBox: A new, all-in-one activity box for kids from BabbaCo!

 

Reading Activities for Kids at Home

Be yourself. Include your preschooler in day to day discussions early on.

  • Reading out loud with your child. This goes a long way to helping children to discover the excitement associated with reading books. This boosts them to enjoy the concept reading books.
  • Discuss books with your child.  Let them see & feel how fun thiscan be.
  • Have plenty of things for them to read hanging around the house. Any books or such that provide a curious interest for them will stimulate them to want to learn to read more often.
  • During your reading time together, help your child stay in tuned with the activity, therefore turn off the tv, radio and evn put your cell phone on vibrate. This is to be considered a time without distraction for both you and your child.
  • Encourage and insist that your child read out loud. This not only has the affect of providing confidence in reading for your preschooler, but it also will allow you to gage how far your child is coming along in his or her reading skills.
  • Give them books, even coloring books as gifts. try to make sure that the theme or subject matter and pictures are in your childs “wheel house” of interest.
  • And while reading itself is great, also have a dialog with your child about the meaning of what you both have been reading. Make it fun & encourage your child to really get creative in their interpretation of the story’s meaning. There’s nothing like a listening to a child’s imagination.

 

If budget concerns are an issue then no problem. Remember that public library we all either walk or drive by everyday? Well there are plenty of great reading materials there. Libraries have really come a long way since I was a kid…lol

Any rainy day activities for kids at home will be great but I have to say reading together is by far one of the best for helping your preschooler get a really good start at not only learning, but developing their confidence as they head into that next “public forum” we call grade school.

Get the BabbaBox: A new, all-in-one activity box for kids from BabbaCo!

Michael J.

Rainy Day Activities for Kids Can be Arts and Crafts

Rainy Day Activities for Kids Can be Arts and Crafts

Clear the kitchen table, and roll up the sleeves & get crafty. Rainy day activities for kids can be arts & crafts. Kids love to make things, especially if they are left to their own imagination.

 

“Chalk” Up One Rainy Day Activity Up For The Kids

rainy day activities for kidsOf all things kids like to do, marking on things has to be right up there…lol. Put the car in the garage or park it on the street (ah ah, now hear me out…).  Either pick up some chalk at the store, or even better, make the chalk with the kids as part of the event.

Head on out to the garage, it’s time for a little chalk-talk! You can assign a theme for them to get creative about.  You can  use chalk boards or cardboard boxes if you aren’t a big fan of domestic-graffiti on the garage floor.

(Chalk Recipe – Half cup water mixed with 1 cup of plaster of paris. Add a couple of spoonfuls of tempura paint [color(s) of your choice] & pour in an egg carton and dry overnight)

See the BabbaBox: A new, all-in-one activity box for kids from BabbaCo!

Playdough Recipe

Rainy day activities for kids are great because they can be really fast to do. And this one lasts for hours of fun!  And don’t worry, this recipe calls for ingredients that won’t harm your kids if they decide to eat the playdough, not that a child would ever put a foreign object or anything else in their mouth…

 

Ingredients:

Flour – 3 cups

Salt – 1 and a half cup

Water – three cups

Vegetable Oil – one tablespoon

Cream of Tartar – one tablespoon

Food Coloring – just a couple of drops, well ok, a few drops of any color you choose.

 

Now The Assembly:

Lg. sauce pan to mix all ingredients

Over medium heat, cook while intermittently stirring. until the dough pulls away from the edges of the saucepan & gets thick. You will know this once the spoon becomes harder to move. Take away from the heat.

Leave in the pan to cool down. When it has cooled down enough to handle, then turn saucepan over to drop the play stuff onto a piece of wax paper.

Do you “knead” to do anything else? Yes, you need to “knead” it three to four times.

It’s now dough time! When you’re done, just put it away in an air tight container and place it in a cupboard.

 

I love arts & crafts as rainy day activities for kids because it lifts them out of that “funk”. Encouraging them to be creative with their hands as well as their minds has great long lasting effects!

Michael J.

See the BabbaBox: A new, all-in-one activity box for kids from BabbaCo!


5 Rainy Day Activities For Kids You Can Do at Home

5 Rainy Day Activities For Kids You Can Do at Home

rainy day activities for kidsHi and thanks for dropping by. You know, it doesn’t really matter if it`s rainy day activities for kids to do or if it`s just fun activities for anytime that you can share with your kids (and their friends if you wish).

What I mean is the choice of activities can pretty much be the same, but what changes is the mood the kids are in at the time.

If they are bored because it`s raining heavily, or there is a bad snow storm and they cannot go out, then they need a stimulus to get them excited and out of that feeling of disappointment.

And there is nothing better to stimulate a young mind than getting them involved in something creative. Take a look at these 5 creative activities.

 

  • Rainy Day Activities For Kids  - Dressing Up

The fastest way to get this fun gig going is to gather up some intriguing old clothes & let your (and there) imaginations go crazy. Your old Halloween costumes can work fine too. If you don’t have many old things boxed away or hanging in a closet somewhere, no problem.

Get creative. Use garbage bags. My wife, a former model, teaches kids of all ages in our community about self esteem. One of the things she did was put together a fashion show where the kids were the models.

In preparation for the big show finally, she gave them all garbage bags and asked them to take them home & come up with a way they would where that garbage bag as clothing on the runway.

Well, you would have been shocked (or maybe not) at some of the very creative things they came up with. So with parents & friends in the audience, out they came one by one, nervous as all get out..lol.

Everyone was so impressed with what they saw, they all received a standing ovation, and it wasn’t one of those “parentally correct” applauses.

It was sincere amazement to the core. And this was the last runway item of clothing they fashioned that night. What a great way to end things. So the point is, let the kids go crazy with their creative minds. You will be amazed too!

See the BabbaBox: A new, all-in-one activity box for kids from BabbaCo!

  •  Making Paper Mache is Another Fun Indoor Activity For Kids

This is an old throw back to my days as a kid (now a grandparent). You just need some simple things from around the house & “paper mache” it is!

So, get some balloons & newspapers, mix up 1 part of flour and 2 parts of water. Get those lungs ready & blow some air into those bad boys (the balloons of course), rip the newspapers into various length strips.

Then simply take the newspaper & mix it up completely with the newspaper lengths and smooth them out, laying them on the balloons. Yep, this is where the creative part comes out.

It’s best to do 2 layers, and then let them dry to very firm. Once it’s nice and dry, why not just pop the balloons & paint up the pieces any way you see fit!

 

  • Putting on Some Music and Dancing is a Great Activity For Kids & Adults  

Ya ya, I can hear some of you now. I can’t dance, let alone in front of my kids & their friends. Don’t worry, they don’t expect you to be able to dance anyway, so whatever you can muster up will impress them…lol

Kidding aside (pun intended), this is a great way to not only have fun, but great exercise for the kids as well, and probably for you too. Do this one for a while & you will all sleep well tonight.

 

  •  Finger Painting  One of The Must Rainy Day Activities For Kids  

This is another one of the old time tested winners. Of course you want to make sure you have some old throw sheets or newspapers (unless you used them all for your paper mache…lol).

Oh, and if you have any garbage bags left, just cut out 2 holes for their arms to fit through & voila, you have a painters smock.

And don’t worry, you don’t have to run out to Wal-Mart or somewhere & get finger paints. Just need food coloring, liquid dish soap, flour & water. Just mix equal parts of flour, water and the soap. Then take the food coloring and add the amount you want, little by little, until you get the color you want.

 

  •  Coloring Activities For Kids  -

Pick up a few coloring books and have at it kiddo. It wasn’t until I finally became a grandparent that I remembered how fun coloring was, especially now coloring with the kids.

I mean I had a blast and watching the looks on the faces when they saw little tricks I used from my days of coloring with my Mother (wow, all of a sudden those days seemed like yesterday).

So these are just a few suggestions. You can probably think of a few other ones. Any rainy day activities for kids that you can do at home have need to have one thing in common.

The key thing is to create excitement & challenge the kids to be free to express themselves. Any number of rainy day activities for kids that keep their minds active will be well received. And it sure is fun once you get them started!
See the BabbaBox: A new, all-in-one activity box for kids from BabbaCo!

Michael J.

Welcome to Rainy Day Activities For Kids dot com

Welcome to Rainy Day Activities For Kids. In my next few posts, I will let you know about a really great idea that I was told about that would bring learning, fun & excitement to into my grand children’s lives.

Well, turns out that rainy day activities aren’t just for rainy days any more… :lol:

See you in the next post. This is really going to be fun!