Rainy Days Can Be Fun

Rainy days usually include the words "I'm bored" and "there's nothing to do."

At my house it's no different, but I try to keep special activities on the back burner for rainy days and snow days to stave off boredom and mischief.

One favorite activity we do is craft projects. We love crafts around our house, and when the rain or snow hits, we pull them out.

Sometimes I'll direct the kids in a craft project and we'll make something specific. We've made toilet paper roll Scooby Doos, puppets, paper snowflakes. Once, we used food coloring and pasta to create colored pasta beads for necklaces. I think, though, the craft activities I've enjoyed the most were not directed by me.

I have boxes and drawers full of craft supplies and the kids enjoy just pulling things out, putting on their thinking caps and setting to work.

The kids have made sock puppet aliens, pom pom pets, doll furniture and accessories, action figures, holiday pictures and the like from just their imaginations. Even though they enjoy it when I set them a specific task or project to make, it seems as though we all enjoy it more when I tell them to just create with the supplies we have.

The fall to that task with gusto - grabbing googly eyes, beads, pom poms, yarn, foam stickers, popsicle sticks and more to create whatever is in their imaginations.