Entertaining the kids at the best of times can be challenging but when it is raining, you are often limited to the home.
Finding things to do, especially as your children get older, is harder. With that being said, you should have a list of ideas so that when you are stuck indoors, you will be able to keep them entertained for hours on end.
With that being said, here are several tips for entertaining the kids at home when it is raining:
Have a duvet day
As an adult, you do not often get a chance to relax and unwind, which is why it is a great excuse to have a duvet day with your kids. A duvet day – if you have never had one before – is where you jump into your cozy pajamas and bring down the duvet to snuggle up in on the sofa.
Make sure you have made the lounge space as comfortable and relaxed as possible. For example, you might want to dim the lights to set the mood if it is dreary and dark outside. You may also want to light a few candles if you want to watch a movie in the dark.
A duvet day is a great way to switch off from the world and to just relax the body and mind from all of life’s little stressors. To make duvet day an extra special occasion, get some snacks and drinks ready to munch on throughout the day.
Bake something
If you are wanting to teach your children a great skill for when they are older, then it is well worth baking something with them. Baking is a good skill to have, as is cooking in general. However, some parents might not like the idea of letting their kids loose in the kitchen, or even when being watched.
Baking though can be fun and it can encourage your children to take a real interest in making food. It is only going to do well to benefit their relationship with food as they get older.
When choosing food to bake, try to opt for more savory options when they are young. That way, they can enjoy the savory foods as well as the sweet ingredients that are typically used when baking.
When baking, make sure you are observing your kids, especially the youngsters. Try to offer them kid-friendly kitchen utensils and take over when the potentially dangerous stuff needs doing. Explain these steps to them so that they learn about the dangers when cooking so that they do not get themselves in harm’s way.
Start collecting all the recipes you have used so that you have a book of baking fun for those rainy days.
Create an indoor scavenger hunt
If you are looking for something to do at home that is going to waste away the hours while you are working perhaps, then why not create an indoor scavenger hunt?
There are times where your children will be at home and off school, whereas you might have to still work from home. With that in mind, a scavenger hunt can keep them occupied for an hour so if done well.
When creating an indoor scavenger hunt, ensure the treasures to be found are worth finding. Candy tends to work quite well! Make each step a little challenging but not too complex that they come asking for help too often.
With an indoor scavenger hunt, it nurtures and tests many of the skills that they will need when they are older. If you need some inspiration, then look online to get ideas. This is an activity that will never get boring and will have your kids exhausted by the end of the day, having run all over the home.
Organize and declutter the home
Sometimes having a good declutter can be a great way to keep your kids occupied, especially as they get a little older and become more mindful over their own personal belongings.
Decluttering the home is a great way to stay on top of the mess that often comes with having a family. Therefore, you should look to do this activity every time your kids are off from school. That way, you can stay organized with your home.
Decluttering and organizing your home can be made fun, even when the kids are not necessarily game for doing it. Look at how you could gamify the activity and offer rewards to your kids for completing necessary tasks.
When going around each room, be sure to put anything you want to throw out into a trash bag. For donations, put these in a separate box, and for anything you want to sell, look online and offline for places to sell.
Build a den
If you’re wanting to tap into your children’s creativity and imagination, then building a den is a great way to spark their imagination and to make something simple, and exciting. Especially for little ones, building a den simply out of cardboard boxes and a few arts and crafts can be enough.
When building a den, create a good amount of space so that there’s plenty of room to navigate the space. You may also want to look at buying all the things you need to create the den if you are going to use more than just your household furniture and soft furnishings.
Fort blankets are great if you are looking to create a den merely out of blankets and duvets. These are a great way to enjoy that movie day you might be looking to have too. If you are looking for something more permanent, then there are some options online that you could purchase.
There are some wonderful options available to pick from if you want to treat your children to a permanent den space.
Play games
Games are great to play when it is raining outside. When the outdoor space is not available for playing football or tag, there are plenty of other options to introduce to your children indoors.
Online games like sudoku are healthy for training your little one’s brains, while also helping them with English and spelling. The classic board games are fun to play and are often not played as much now that there’s a lot of technology about.
A lot of the younger generations now are all consumed by technology so seeing board games might look a little alien to them. With that being said, think about showing off the games you used to play when you were their age and try to encourage them to play it. Even if they think it is ‘lame’ to begin with. Chances are, they will eventually love it once they start playing.
Pull out the arts and crafts
To help build on their creativity, you should have an arts and crafts station to play with. This could be a dressing-up box, to a painting station where they can paint with a variety of colors and materials. All of the activities that fall into arts and crafts, should help your children grow into confident and inspired individuals.
Arts and crafts should be a constant presence throughout your child’s life from a young age. The difference it can make to their life both career and personally, is substantial. Make sure you have plenty of arts and crafts to choose from so that it keeps them busy on a daily basis. This is key during those summer vacations when the kids are off for weeks.
Entertaining your kids at home when it is raining is important, so use these tips and ideas to keep your kids and you sane. It is worth having this bookmarked for when you need it.
