When the weather outside is not ideal for getting outside and playing, your children might be tempted to turn to the television set or a favorite video game to help them pass these indoor hours. If you wish to keep your kids having fun but want to try some activities that are a little more unplugged from the world of electronic devices, consider the following rainy day suggestions.
Sometimes the rain can seem cozy and fun, but sometimes kids really long to go outdoors and do outdoor activities. Some of these you can certainly do at home, such as having a picnic inside your house. Grab a bunch of soft blankets and pillows and create a huge picnic area on the floor and enjoy breakfast, lunch or dinner picnic-style. This is a great option if your outdoor activity was canceled by the rain. You can even set up a camping tent indoors and have an indoor camping adventure with campfire songs, stories and even s'mores.
You really can never go wrong with fun art projects for kids, and these are especially welcome when rainy days are keeping kids indoors. One fun way to combine art with a little bit of education would be to have your children complete a cool art mural based on the work of a renowned artists. These murals are available for about $5 from ArtProjectsForKids.org, and you just purchase, download and print the pages. Each page has a small section of the painting and you can color it in using paints, markers, crayons or perhaps oil pastels. There are murals of Van Gogh's Starry Night, Seurat's Sunday in the Park and many more choices, including the Mona Lisa and works by Picasso, Cezanne, O'Keeffe and others.
Other art ideas for kids include making decorations for any upcoming holiday. This could include creating paper jack-o-lanterns for Halloween or handprint turkeys for Thanksgiving. Clay and Play-do are always fun to play with, and your kids can even help you make homemade Play-do and then create whatever their hearts desire. Papier-mch is a fun, but messy way to enjoy an afternoon of creation. You can set out painting tarps for this activity or do it in the garage. Even just experimenting with different types of paint and painting techniques can be fun, so break out the oil pastels, finger paints, water colors and other art supplies and let the kids be free to create.
Another fun and easy way to spend some time is taking part in a scavenger hunt. Simply make a list of different things to find and send them on their way. It can be as simple as that or you can mix it up a little by adding tasks such as "find something blue that is less than an inch high." There can be things to find and also things to do on your list. For instance, have them find 10 blocks and then build a tower. Then they go find a Slinky and make it walk down the stairs twice. Another task might be to find 10 stuffed animals and arrange them in alphabetical order by species.
A cooking project can be a fun way to pass some time, and you can bake cookies, create homemade bread or prepare something yummy for dinner. Children of all ages can help. Let the smallest kids stir and mix, and the bigger kids can measure and chop. Baking bread can be a lot of fun, and kids will enjoy kneading as well as seeing the changes in the loaf as it rises. You can also make homemade butter if you have heavy cream on hand. Just shake it up for several minutes until it forms a solid piece of butter. There will be excess liquid, but that's just buttermilk and you can save it and use it for pancakes or biscuits.
Sometimes the rain can seem cozy and fun, but sometimes kids really long to go outdoors and do outdoor activities. Some of these you can certainly do at home, such as having a picnic inside your house. Grab a bunch of soft blankets and pillows and create a huge picnic area on the floor and enjoy breakfast, lunch or dinner picnic-style. This is a great option if your outdoor activity was canceled by the rain. You can even set up a camping tent indoors and have an indoor camping adventure with campfire songs, stories and even s'mores.
You really can never go wrong with fun art projects for kids, and these are especially welcome when rainy days are keeping kids indoors. One fun way to combine art with a little bit of education would be to have your children complete a cool art mural based on the work of a renowned artists. These murals are available for about $5 from ArtProjectsForKids.org, and you just purchase, download and print the pages. Each page has a small section of the painting and you can color it in using paints, markers, crayons or perhaps oil pastels. There are murals of Van Gogh's Starry Night, Seurat's Sunday in the Park and many more choices, including the Mona Lisa and works by Picasso, Cezanne, O'Keeffe and others.
Other art ideas for kids include making decorations for any upcoming holiday. This could include creating paper jack-o-lanterns for Halloween or handprint turkeys for Thanksgiving. Clay and Play-do are always fun to play with, and your kids can even help you make homemade Play-do and then create whatever their hearts desire. Papier-mch is a fun, but messy way to enjoy an afternoon of creation. You can set out painting tarps for this activity or do it in the garage. Even just experimenting with different types of paint and painting techniques can be fun, so break out the oil pastels, finger paints, water colors and other art supplies and let the kids be free to create.
Another fun and easy way to spend some time is taking part in a scavenger hunt. Simply make a list of different things to find and send them on their way. It can be as simple as that or you can mix it up a little by adding tasks such as "find something blue that is less than an inch high." There can be things to find and also things to do on your list. For instance, have them find 10 blocks and then build a tower. Then they go find a Slinky and make it walk down the stairs twice. Another task might be to find 10 stuffed animals and arrange them in alphabetical order by species.
A cooking project can be a fun way to pass some time, and you can bake cookies, create homemade bread or prepare something yummy for dinner. Children of all ages can help. Let the smallest kids stir and mix, and the bigger kids can measure and chop. Baking bread can be a lot of fun, and kids will enjoy kneading as well as seeing the changes in the loaf as it rises. You can also make homemade butter if you have heavy cream on hand. Just shake it up for several minutes until it forms a solid piece of butter. There will be excess liquid, but that's just buttermilk and you can save it and use it for pancakes or biscuits.
About the Author:
Kate Halfey enjoys blogging about art projects. For more information regarding fun art projects for kids or to find art projects like watercolor art projects for kids, please check out the ArtProjectsForKids.org website now.
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