Rainy day activities

cali1710

the last month or so we have had a lot more rain than usual. Like a lot of rain. Claire isnt in daycare but goes to my parents twice a week while I work. I'm curious what indoor activities you do to keep your LO occupied. I feel shes getting bored of the usual stuff and need some ideas. We do playdough, we have started painting, we play with lego, books, wooden puzzles. What else do you suggest! Looking for some out of the box ideas! 

kaym6

Samuel is OBSESSED with being outside. It's really warm here so a lot of times if it's not pouring or thunder storming we put on our rain boots and rain jackets and go outside anyway! I don't have any good rainy day activities so I'm interested in what other people do! 

cali1710

Claire's obsessed with outside too but its been hard rain so going out hasn't been much of an option. Its also been kind of chilly when it rains and shes just getting over being sick so Ive been hesitant letting her get wet and cold ha. were both going stir crazy inside. I just wondered if there were any cool things people have come up with! 

JanuarysBaby1

How about a bubble machine? I know it's probably used more as an outdoor thing but I have one for Gina and there's times when I use it inside on those rainy days and it keeps her busy. She loves chasing them. You know,  I totally forgot about play dough! I'm going to get it for her today! Thanks for the idea lol! 

cali1710

We have a bubble machine, never thought about it inside!! Thanks

SDaniels19

My son loves chasing balloons around! Of course there's a chance one will pop but they keep him pretty entertained up until then usually. Also letting him "help" Mommy with things like laundry, mixing in bowls, etc seems to be fun for him (even though it's twice the work for Mommy of course). We have some indoor playgrounds here or even the play areas in the mall, might be a good option to burn out LOs energy when it's raining. Do you have any children's museum nearby?

stephanienjer

It sounds like you have great activities to encourage fine motor skills, but what about gross motor skills? Big movement will help. As PP said, chasing balloons is great. We have a tunnel that Birdie crawls back and forth in. She also has one of those ride-on toys that she can get going pretty fast in our long hallway. We do a lot of trying to jump from item to item. (Most of the time, sadly it's from book to book--even though I try to get her to do it from the foam tiles we have instead.) Her favorite game is to stand at opposite ends of the hallway from me--out of sight, and come running around and scare each other. She could do this for HOURS.
Our McDonald's just remodeled (er...was torn down and rebuilt,) and big brother took her into the playplace for the first time. She LOVED it. If you've got an older sibling, or don't mind being confined, that's always been a rainy day go-to for all of our kids. (We also have a little toddler play area at our mall, but we don't go there often because the other kids are monsters.)

fishee333

I agree about the bubble machine indoors! And when we are done with it, LO helps me wipe down the floor. A favorite thing we do is coloring... I have a huge sketchbook I got at the art store, and really big crayons, and just leave it out in the main room. She scribbles in it all the time and likes when I outline her hands. Other things I can think of: animal magnets (she likes transferring them from the fridge to the dishwasher), playing with pom poms (I just bought a huge bag if them at Joanne's), the rocking horse, throwing around a bouncy ball, sorting through rocks (she puts them in a box, then on the ground, then in another box, etc). Lots of just random stuff. Our local community center also has an indoor play space, and the library has story time each week. And we are about to start indoor swim lessons this week! 

SDaniels19

@fishee333 we are starting swim lessons too, first lesson is next Wed! I am nervous but so excited for him to learn!