Rainy days can be so boring for a child…and just as hard on moms. So we give some ideas to brighten your day and chase their rainy day blues away!

Shadow puppets

In a room that is fairly dark set up a flash light so it is facing a wall. Have the children make hand shadows…If they get really good at them they could even put on a little play.

My box home

As a little girl some of my best times were spent making Barbie homes out of medium card board boxes. Paints, markers, crayons, fabric scraps, glue, and so on were used to fashion wall paper curtains and the like. The ideas and possibilities are endless!

Little boys can make garages for there cars as well.

Magazine Story

Take ten pieces of paper. Staple them together. Have you child go threw a magazine and pick out 10 pictures to cut out. Tell him/her to paste one on each page. Now what ever order they are in the must right a story, the story should have some thing to do with the pictures on each page. This can be a real challenge but is endless fun and giggles.

Puzzles

Have you child search for a few pictures they like in an old magazine. Paste these pictures onto heavy cardboard. With a paint brush, brush on a coat of clear drying glue such as Elmer’s glue. Let them completely dry. Once they are dry cut them up into different shaped pieces. Now you have a puzzle for this rainy day and rainy days to come! Store in zip lock bags.

Bean Bag Pals

You will need a 10x10 square of felt, thread, needle, a parent to sew, beans or rice, tacky glue and scraps of different color felts to decorate with. Mom or Dad should sew the squares together all the way around, all but about 2 inches. Turn the square inside right. Fill with the beans or rice and sew closed. It can be decorated with the scarps of felt to make animals. Googly eyes are fun to add as well but are not recommended for children under four.

A Gift of Comfort.

Not long ago when I was in the hospital having my son, I was given a special heat pack for my back. It was very simple and would be a great project for children to help with. My suggestion is have your child make about 30 and donate then to a labor and delivery floor.

Rice Sock Heat Packs

You will need white men’s tube socks ones that have no preformed heal medium is a good size.

You will need uncooked white rice (not minute)

You will need ribbon any color or colors you like.

Gift tags that tie on.

Fill each sock two inches from the top.

Tie a length of ribbon tightly in a knot attach the gift card and then make a bow.

On the gift tag write the instructions for use (you could make gift tags on your computer and print them all out) Microwave on high for 2 minutes or until it reaches the desired warmth. Enjoy!

These work great, stay warm for a long time. If your child makes them to give away it is an added bonus of pride!

Dress Up

My children have a tote full of dress up clothing. I did it inexpensively threw yard sales, Dollar Stores, Halloween clearances and Good Will. I pick up things such as jewelry, hats, sun glasses, badges, fancy dresses, costumes and other articles of interest. Many times I save new things to add on a rainy day or another day they have nothing to do. It generates new interest and hours of play. One reader even mentioned the idea of theme boxes. Such as a fairy box if that was what your little girl was into or a princess or a firemen ect. I think that is a good idea for but also I believe a good mix of things inspires imagination and creativity.

Driving Mat

A huge poster board or cardboard is great to let your little one paint roads on for his cars In fact I bought my sons a light colors rug remnant (it was cheap) about 4x5 .It can be any size you like. My sons used fabric paints on the rug. They painted lakes, roads, airports trees and so on. If you decided to do the poster board you can use crayons or markers as well. They had a really great time making this one rainy day and still enjoy it to this day. When they are done they just roll it up and put it away. Card board milk cartons can be saved and painted to make little decorative houses and stores as well as stores to place on their car mat. Be sure to wash them well, dry them and staple them closed.

© 2003-2004

Jennifer & Gregory Gove

Jennifer is the owner of simply moms.com. She is a full time stay at home mother living on the coast of Maine.To see more articles, parenting community, chat, baby name finder and more. Visit her site at http://www.simplymoms.com

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