Are You Running Out of Rainy Day Ideas?

A block "creature".

We have certainly had an abundance of rainy days here lately in the Charlottesville area.  And I don't know about you, but play-doh and pillow forts have lost their appeal at my house.  We need some fresh ideas for activities to do on these rainy days.  Here are a "top ten" list of rainy day activities - a few I have done and several I want to try.  Do you have any tried-and-true rainy day activities you would like to share?  Or any you would like to try?  Let us know in the comments!

1. Go "scuba diving" in the bathtub.  This is really just an extended bath in the middle of the day.  But it will entertain the little ones for a while and bonus - get them clean!

2.  Instead of constructing buildings out of blocks, make different animals and creatures out of them.  Give them names and make up a story about them.

3.  Have a "snowball" fight with crumpled paper.  Wear snow hats!

4.  Make pictures with dried beans and uncooked pasta.  Kids can glue them to paper, and if your feeling really ambitious, let them paint them when they are done and the glue has dried.

5.  Let kids "decorate" their rooms with ribbons.  The other day my daughter found my container of ribbons I use to decorate gifts.  She used them to decorate her room by placing them on bookshelves, her dresser, draping the long ones around door knobs, etc. 

6.  Let your preschooler make up a story (or just tell you what happened at school or moppets one day).  Write it down for them and then have them draw a picture to illustrate the story.  Fun for them and a keepsake for you!

7.  Make a card to send to a friend or relative.  Fold construction paper in half, then decorate with stickers and such.  Put a recent picture of your child in the envelope before you send it.

8.  Give them some masking tape and have them make "roads" for their cars to drive on all around the floor.

9.  Go to the library.  Yes you will have to brave the weather for a few minutes getting from the car to the door but inside there are tons of books to read!  And you can check out some books on CD to play in the car.

10.  And if all else fails, get in the car, crank up some music, and drive!  Also, stop and get yourself some coffee or a milkshake.  Guaranteed mood lifter for me!