Rainy Day Activities and Games

On good days in the winter I wrestled our four children into rain gear and we would splash outside into puddles and parks. On bad days I wished fervently (along with every member of my family) for cable TV. ‘Give me thirty channels of clamour to keep my kids quiet,’ I would think wildly when they were young, ‘or this puppy energy yipping and rassling at my feet will drive me over the edge crazy!’

Somehow I resisted the siren call of television. In fact I unplugged it, and in its place I offered boxes of possibilities: dress-up boxes, tool chests, inventor’s boxes, and a tin full of beads. I gave them beans, buttons, and bowls full of coins.

Then something magical happened. I got my quiet, a different kind of quiet than the punctuated bursts of watching-TV-quiet. It was seamless. Expanding. Oh, they still had their puppy energy, but it was focussed into playing pretend doctors bandaging victims who paid them with pennies they had counted and pushed into paper coin rolls from the bank.

The rain fell and they sorted beans, built railroad tracks with marshmallows and toothpicks, and threaded beads onto shoelaces. They sang and giggled and built forts from cardboard boxes, and you know what? It was better than the best day of TV. The following ideas are merely suggestions my own children have enjoyed, and add to the Rainy-day Box of your child’s interests. There is a world out there waiting in ping pong balls and play dough. Offer it up and watch the magic.

First Aid Kit activity

What you will need:

• Band aids
• Gauze on a roll and pads
• Adhesive tape
• Safety pins
• Small plastic bottle of water (to clean ‘wounds’)
• Wash cloth
• Small tube of Vaseline
• Scissors
• Water bottle (for tummy aches)

This activity needs no directions! Your child can minister to siblings, friends, stuffed animals or the family dog.

Bank activity

What you will need:

Loose change: Coin paper rolls (available at office supply stores or your local bank)

Have your child sort the coins into bowls. Then place the coins in their respective paper rolls (you may have to help set the first few coins). This is a deceptively simple activity that also builds eye/hand coordination skills.

Bean activity

What you will need:

• Beans (as many different varieties as possible)
• Big bowl
• Bed sheet
• Film canisters

Lay the sheet down on the floor. Put all the beans in the big bowl and place it in the middle of the sheet. Have your child run his hands through them (my toddlers adored the feel and sound of this). Sort the beans into piles. Place a few of each kind of bean in a film canister. Shake the canister and see if it is possible to tell the difference between the beans purely by sound. Take this activity one step further and soak the beans in water overnight. Drain and replace the water in the morning. Cook them up for lunch and serve with melted cheese on top.

The Big Picture of Me activity

What you will need:

• Butcher paper
• Felt tip pens or crayons

Have your child lie down on the butcher paper and trace her body with a felt tip pen. She can then draw in the details with the pens. She can include her favourite hat, sandals or shoes, eyebrows, hair, and whatever else her imagination sees.

Emergency Bags

Put these bags together before the bad weather starts, tuck them away, and pull them out when the urge to merge with television hits.

• Creature Bag: Pipe cleaners, googly eyes, pom-poms, and clay
• Bath Bag: Bubble bath, small can of shaving cream, and popsicle sticks used to ‘shave with’
• Marshmallow Constructs: Bag of marshmallows and a box of coloured toothpicks
• Recipe and ingredients for Play Clay: 1 cup baking soda, 1/2 cup cornstarch, 3/4 cup cold water. Mix together, add food colouring if desired, and stir over medium heat until the mixture gathers together.
• Edible Finger-paint: One package instant chocolate pudding, piece of freezer paper. Make the pudding according to directions and place a small amount on the waxed side of the paper.