Today we want your best tips and tricks of the mama trade for how you survive yucky weather. What are your "go to" indoor activities? What do you do to break up the time inside? How do you keep your kids from bouncing off the walls?

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My kids are content for hours with anything art-related. It has been unusually wet here in Nor Cal, too. Today, after some blueberry muffin-baking, I simply whipped out cheap canvases, a variety of acrylic paints (+ aprons!), mod podge, fabric scraps, buttons and glitter, and let them go to town.
ReplyDeleteWe also like "doing legos" as a family, which can easily take up many hours.
And of course, you can't go wrong with a good movie on a rainy day. Our current favorite? Mary Poppins.
I have a 1 year old and this week we busted out the cornstarch and water... http://babyvalone.blogspot.com/2010/01/rainy-day-fun.html
ReplyDeleteI think making your own plau dough would work well too, for older kids.
We do puzzles, a lot of play doh, baking, and the most fun for me-we turn on the radio and dance!
ReplyDeleteHere in Minnesota, we're trapped indoors from roughly November until May. We do go out and play in the snow on days when we aren't going to lose a toe to frostbite. But when you have little kids, even that doesn't last long.
ReplyDeleteSo we have ALL KINDS of ideas for indoor play.
1. Craft box. I keep a special box full of craft kits, paint, puffy balls, glitter glue, etc. When we're going stir-crazy, I get that out and we make a memorable morning.
2. Board games. Yes, I get tired of Candy Land after the 6th time. Funny thing -- the kids never do.
3. Indoor tent. Get out all the blankets (you have those in SoCal, don't you?) and let the kids create an indoor fort.
4. Bake with Mom. Fresh-baked cookies are always a hit.
We also have some great indoor play options here in Minnesota -- indoor playgrounds, water parks, a FABULOUS children's museum. All of those are tremendous for breaking up the doldrums of winter.
We have the kids smash all the aluminum cans and take them to the recycling center. They are motivated by money and we are motivated by the thought of exhausting them. When it rains on the weekend, they say, "Get the cans!" Not the most educational tradition but it works.
ReplyDeleteMy 16 month old loves to paint herself (and everything else) with pudding, it is easy to make and I make a bunch of diffent colors! I just put her in the bathtub and let her go to town. When she gets finished "decorating" the tub and herself all you have to do is turn on the water and rinse everything out! Not to bad of a cleanup either!
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