Ways to Chase Away the Rainy Day Blues

Everyone has had one of those days. A day where your child is bouncing off the walls full of abundant energy and the weatherman has foretold rain; lots and lots of rain. What are you to do with your child and all their excess energy? Here are a couple of suggestions to help rain days from keeping you down.

Body Paint Fun--this is best done in an open room with tile, newspaper, and lots and lots of patience because it is a very messy project. There are also two ways to do this project depending on your circumstances; if you are a stay-at-home-mom be prepared to give a quick bath after this project so you may want to schedule it for before lunch and nap as baths sometimes produce better sleepers. If you you are a child care provider, make sure you have an assistance to help with quick clean up.

What you do is this; get a large piece of butcher paper and some kind of washable paint (I've found Crayola is probably your best bet) and strip your child to the bare minimum be it diapers or underwear. Spread newspaper on the floor (remember tile is best) and place the butcher paper on top. Then let your child go crazy. They can put paint on their chest and smear it all around, they can walk through the paint and make footprints, they can just use their fingers. This is an extremely messy project but it is so much fun your child will have a blast being able to go crazy and make a body art painting. Then you want to take them to clean up; if you are a SAHM you should just be able to let it dry on the floor; child care providers may have to play this by ear and the best bet for that is have your helper clean up the children who are bored with the project early and you can hang up the painting to dry really quick before you jump in to help cleaning. After cleaning, serve lunch and hopefully your little Picasso will be tired enough for a quick nap.

Scavenge Hunt--this project is more fun for kids who are a little bit older around five or six. What you do is make an easy scavenger hunt with easy to find items for the younger children. For hiding places, try areas they know like their toys or videos. Whatever you want the prize to be is up to you. I would recommend something like a healthy snack, or getting to pick what you want for lunch. New presents are somewhat iffy in that they might start to expect new items every rainy day and you don't want to go down that road. Use learning tools like letters and colors as clue such as "The next clue for you/is in your room by a bear that's blue" and "Look for 3 little kittens with 6 mittens for a clue"; that way in addition to exploring and problem solving, they are reviewing basic things they should be learning. Also it is another way for them to tire themselves out as they will be walking as fast as they can to find out the next clue and their prize.

Story Time Theater-this one can actually combine one or two different activities and is something you want to do with your child's favorite stories. Decide which book you want to use and read it together. Then figure out with your child how to make this into a fun (and short) play. Once you figure it out, make costumes out of old clothes and a lot of imagination. Then "rehearse" your play once or twice because you don't want to bore your child it the project. Once you've got everything set let your child play for awhile. Once dad (or mom if you are a stay-at-home-dad) gets home, before dinner while it is still fresh in the mind put on your performance. This will help your child with remembering things and also is a fun way to do something together as a family before dinner.

Tea Party---this one is for girls as most boys don't like tea parties. What you do is invite one of your daughter's friends over (hopefully someone who is next door or close by as they won't mind driving over in the rain) and ask them to bring over a snack. This will give them a chance to make something together and for you and your daughter to make something simple. Fruit dip, or ready to bake cookies are your best bet, but you can't go wrong with little sandwiches. Then make iced tea for the girls to put in their tea set and either hot tea or coffee for the moms (depending on which you and your guest would prefer). Have everything set up; one on the dining room table for the moms and a smaller dining area for the girls. Then have your tea party with the girls gossiping about what they want and the moms. This is a nice way to combine a rainy day activity with lunch and get your child some social interaction, especially if it has been rainy days for awhile.

Tee Party-same concept really, only this one is for the boys. A lot of boys out there have little golf sets to match their daddy. Set up a mini-golf putting course using boxes, pillows, toys, and other obstacles in your living room (you may have to move some of the furniture) for your little golfer. Invite one of his friends over and make lemonade and mini-sandwiches. Have the boys play a round then serve lunch while you and the other mom can rearrange the course to make some more (you can do nine in each session just like a regular golf course). This way it gives your little guy some much needed time with another little boy and you get some fellow mom time. Plus think of all the cute photo ops you will have with this activity.

*Note: In no way am I trying to assign gender roles here; I realize there are some boys out there who may want a tea party and girls who want a tee party. Whatever category your little one falls into, they will have fun and be able to have some social interaction with a friend to help pass the rainy day.

Dance Party-this is a good activity because it will not only get your child's energy out but it will help both of you exercise. This is also an activity that you can do just the two of you or you can invite some friends over. Find a toddler dancing video (here's a list of some good ones to give you ideas) and clear the living room. Make sure there is water nearby for mommy and child and dance your heart away!! Since these are exercise videos as well there may be stretching as well which will help your child warm up and cool down and there is also fun music to go along with the dancing. Or if you don't want to follow a video, just put on a favorite CD and free dance all around. This is a wonderful way to spend time with your child.

Rock Band-Most children have some form of musical instruments, kindly given to them at birthdays and Christmases, be they the whole band, or just a xylophone. You can create a band with these and have a fun time jamming out with your kids. If you are musically inclined, you can teach them songs on the xylophone as most come with some kind of sheet music and you can play such staples as "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and "Mary Had a Little Lamb". Your and your child will have fun playing together plus you are exposing them to music which is always good for brain development.

These are just a couple of suggestions to help pass the mundane routine of rainy days. I hope it works for you and your family. Have fun!!