The clouds are rolling in, wind is blowing and the rain is a constant drizzle that is just annoying to walk around in. Both of my kids say how they want to do something fun but they can't because it's raining. I start to sink into their pity party and realize that my bluff hike is definitely not going to happen today. It's time to snap out of it!! We all decide to brainstorm over breakfast at the Creekside Cafe, all the fun stuff we can do inside. I have to say my kids have a great imagination and I pride myself on helping them cultivate their artistic creative minds. So here is a list of all the fun FREE things you can do on a rainy day!
3d puzzles and Board Games - We dug up at least 3 puzzles that we have never even opened and discovered a really cool 3d Eiffel Tower! Nice pick Owen! Apples to Apples, Whoonu and My first chemistry kit rank among the top picks with my kids and they are definitely entertaining for adults.
Arts & Crafts Projects - I always keep a couple of plain wooden projects from Michaels lying around for rainy days. These go on sale off and on from $1.00 - $5.00. I found a couple of bird houses and some wooden animals. The kids and I have a blast painting and decorating these with googly eyes and pom pom balls. We decided on homemade Ugly dolls today!! We are using scrap fabric that you can find at thrift stores or fabric shops, old buttons and some colored thread.
Wii or Xbox Kinect Challenge - We love setting up a family game challenge, where the winner goes up against a different person until they are knocked out of their winning spot. You could also play for fun, but that really wouldn't work for my competitive video gamers. Just Dance & Wii Resort are great games for 5yrs old and up.
Jewelry Making - I've been making jewelry since I was 14yrs old. I think just about every friend I have owns a crazy piece of jewelry that I have gifted to them proudly. It's very relaxing and a lot of fun to create original pieces. I checked out several books on beading and jewelry making from my local library. You will find the best prices on beads at Michaels. Local bead shops tend to be double the price. To put together a basic kit, all you need is wire, wire cutters, needle nose pliers, flat nose pliers, crimp beads, multi colored beads and focal pieces and your choice of clasps. Beadaholic has good quality products for a reasonable price.
Wire wrapping is a great way to use local resources such as found objects like beach glass, rocks or wooden pieces. It requires a lot more patience and some special tools but you can you do several different variations. Seaglass Journal has a nice step by step on wire wrapping.
80's movie marathon - This is my idea of a great rainy day activity. Unfortunately this only keeps my kids attention through 1.5 movies. We could watch ET, Never Ending Story and The Stars Wars movies over and over and over again. Actually I think I might just go and find one on demand now.
I adore your homemade ugly dolls! Do you use a machine, or hand sew?
ReplyDelete