5 activities for kids on rainy days
Posted on April 23rd, 2012
With Spring here and the weather turning wet and cold. It’s also the time of year when rainy days can leave children climbing up the walls, wishing they could get outside.
However help is at hand with our top five tips on rainy day activities – outside! Dig out the childrens waterproof clothing pull on some wellies and head outdoors! Just a few minutes of fresh air will make everyone feel better and you might even run off some pent up energy as well.
It’s a whole new world when it rains. You can smell the soil, it looks different too. Plants, animals and insects also behave differently to when it is dry.
1. Jump in Muddy Puddles
OK it’s obvious but children love it – and the bigger and muddier the puddle the better. Tog them up in their wellies and a pair of kids waterproof trousers (make sure the waterproof trousers are on the outside of the wellies otherwise they’ll get wet feet). Count puddles and jumps with younger children to practise numbers. Even older children like jumping in puddles especially if they think they are going to get mum or dad wet!
2. Make a Rain Guage
Try making a rain guage with slightly older children (this doesn’t have to be done outside!) They can be made easily with an old plastic bottle, then check the rainfall measurements. Turn it into a good educational project by measuring the daily rainfall and mark them on a chart or plot on a graph. Have a look on the internet to see if you have the same results as the weather forecasters.
3. Go on a Nature Trail or Nature Hunt
Go on a short nature trail or nature hunt to see what creatures you can find. Children might be interested to learn that earthworms come to the surface when the soil is wet – set a challenge to see how many worms you can find in ten minutes or in a small area of ground. Snails also like the wet so you could see how far they can travel in five minutes, or count how many you can find too. Did you know that most flying insects can’t fly in the rain, especially bees. And bird find shelter when it’s wet as well. Stones can look more interesting when they are wet too as the colours as stronger, so children might to collect them and see how the colours change when they dry out.
4. Make Mud Pies!
Although we normally advocate good quality kids waterproofs you might want to re-consider dressing them in their oldest outdoor gear for this activity!
5. Have Fun on the Beach
The beach isn’t just for sunny days. You may even have it to yourselves and it’ll certainly blow the cobwebs away. Build stone castles by piling up stones, try skimming stones on the sea or get creative with some beach art using driftwood, seaweed and stones. Have a look on the seashore to see what creatures you can see too.
Inspired to get out and get wet? Good!
There’s no such thing as bad weather just bad clothing, so make sure you wrap youngsters up in some good childrens waterproof clothing; decent kids waterproof jackets are now available for the youngest children although waterproof suitswaterproof suits are probably the best for this age group as everything is covered!
Now go and have some fun.
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