Rainy Day Survival Kit

Ever found yourself dreading the wet weather? Stuck for ideas of things to do when it gets wet outside and the children have to stay in?

Below are a few quick activity ideas to use when the weather has you pulling your hair out.

• Bubbles - children of all ages love to blow and chase bubbles. Have a competition to see who can catch the most, or try different ways of popping them (use a finger, clap them with your hands, pop them with your head, etc). Or to calm things down, ask the children to lay on the carpet on their backs and blow the bubbles into the air above them. Remind the children that they can't get up to pop the bubbles, but must wait for them to float gently down until they can reach them with their finger tips (this is great if you have had a particularly busy day and are looking for five minutes peace).

• A Household Torch - turn the lights off and try to step on the torch spotlight. Use it to point out things around the room and get your child to name them. Shine the spotlight on one person and they have to sing their favourite song or tell a short story.

• Dress Up Box - make sure to include hats, shoes, bags (especially for toddlers), old shirts, skirts, wigs, hair clips, jackets, scarves and beads (make sure you supervise carefully if scarves and beads are being used to avoid choking). Make a cubby house and have a tea party inside. Click here to see our Dress Up Box list.

• Children’s Songs on DVD or CD - there is nothing better than dancing and singing away to your favourite children’s songs. Move fast or slow, jump or wiggle - good for burning some excess energy on windy or rainy days.

• Hand Cream - sounds funny, we know but many hours of quiet time can be had with this one. Give your child a little hand cream in the palm of their hand. Talk to them about rubbing it into their hands. Encourage them to rub it into their elbows or knees, or put spots on their face (good for doing near a mirror!). Talk about rubbing the cream in slowly or quickly. Put the cream on one finger at a time, on the palms of your hands, on the backs of your hands. Rub cream on a friend’s hands! You get the idea. It is very relaxing, and children will settle down really well with a little encouragement.

• Play Dough - kneed it, scrunch it, roll it, poke it, stick things on it, the ultimate all-round crowd pleaser. Keep a plastic-ware tub under the sink to pull out in emergencies. To make your dough a little more exciting, add some food colouring, glitter, sand, uncooked rice or sequins for texture and colour variations. Kneading with your hands not only feels good, but it is a proven relaxation technique. Click here for our Play Dough recipes.

• Children’s Tea Set - use real water, milk or juice and put some biscuits on the plates. Set the teddies up and away you go! This one is lots of fun to use with a home-made cubby house and your Dress Up Box. If you are feeling really adventurous, cook some nibblies with your child to eat at your tea party from one of our recipes - see Our Little Treasure Recipe Search.

• Emergency Toy Box - (click here for Emergency Toy Box)

• Face Paints - create a butterfly on the cheek with a little glitter. Face painting doesn’t have to involve completely covering your child’s face - just pop a few little designs here and there for some dress up fun! You can buy face crayons from toy shops if you are worried about the mess. A good tip is to apply some moisturiser first to make the whole lot easy to wipe off at the end. Worst case scenario - pop them in the bath when it is clean up time!

• Hand Puppets - keeping a few interesting hand puppets close by can be a great distraction for a tired or upset child. If you are a little reluctant to purchase some, make your own using an old sock. Sew some buttons on for eyes and a nose and move you hand as the mouth - priceless! We like to name our hand puppets - that way you can refer to your child's favourite when they need some distracting.

• The Jellybean Game - this activity is great for a few minutes thinking time, especially late in the afternoon.
  Ask your child to lay down on their back and remain very still (this is much easier with older children). Place a Jellybean in the centre of their tummy and tell them that they are to try not to move for two minutes. If they have been able to lay still for a short amount of time, they can eat their Jellybean. Repeat the task if desired. For older children, you can use a clock to help them count how long there is to go until they can demolish their Jellybean.

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