Monday, May 17, 2010

10 Things To Do With Little Ones Suffering From "Cabin Fever"

I love rainy days.  Actually, I should say I love A rainy day (as in: singular, occasional).  It's fun to stay in jammies, cuddle up and watch movies all afternoon...but when the second day of rain comes...my boys are itchin' to MOVE, JUMP, TUMBLE and WRESTLE!  Or as Trusten says, "boy, I need to get my energy out!"

So here's a list of my Top 10 things we like to do on rainy days...(keep in mind, I have BOYS!)

1) "Ice" SKATE!  
About a year ago, my kiddos came up with this nifty activity!  Divy out 2 ice cube trays per child, turn them over, stand on 'em and skate away!  It's wears them out nice and quick...er, um, I mean, it's good exercise!

2) Build a FORT!
My boys love building forts!  What boy doesn't?

Grab all the blankets, pillows and linens in the house.  Find some clothes pins (or something to secure the sheets) and go for it! Challenge them to see how tall, wide, colorful they can make it!

Or just bring the traditional camping inside and put up your real tent!

3) 
READ a book and ACT it out! 
My boys usually choose "Going On A Bear Hunt" when we play this game!  They love to "play" what they just read!  And it's a good memory practice too!


4) Splish, splash, let 'em take a BATH! 
Birthday suits?
Swim trunks?
Whatever works! 
This can be great fun for the kiddos! 
(Just don't forget to put some towels down and steer clear of their "splash zone"!)

5) Little BLIND mice!  
My oldest son loves this game...probably because he's bossy a natural born leader!  We make an obstacle course in the living room, one boy gets blind-folded and the other brothers talk him through it!

6) Let them play CHEF! 
Encourage their creativity by putting a variety of food items out on the counter and let them create a new dish or snack!  It's so fun to see what they come up with...

and what they are daring enough to eat!!!

7) 
Be a BLESSING!
Make cards, pictures, cookies, or crafts for friends, neighbors, family, a nursing home, etc!  A great way to spend a rainy day and to teach your kiddos kindness and compassion!


8) WATER play!
Fill up the sink with water...
Lay down some towels...
Give 'em stools to stand on...
Let them pick out bowls, spoons and cups to play with...
Don't forget the medicine droppers to squirt with...

Keeps 'em entertained for hours!
9)  DANCE Party! 
We like to turn on a worship CD (usually and dance our hearts out!  It's fun getting silly with them and letting them see you cut loose!

10) LEGO race!
My boys love Legos!  They will play for hours!

But sometimes, they need some direction so they'll stick with it.  So, I give everyone a specific thing (truck, airplane, space ship) and set the timer to 20-30 minutes and say "GO!" and they have to build their structure within that time. 

Once the timer goes off, we move on to something else...and when Daddy gets home we get to show him our projects!


This post is linked to "Top Ten {Tuesday}" on OhAmanda.com
And to "Works For Me Wednesday" at WeAreThatFamily.com

15 comments:

*Mirage* said...

Looks like rainy days at your house are a blast! :) When my kids are bored silly I too love to put them in the tub and listen to the happy kid sounds from outside the splash-zone. ;) Or blow soap bubbles in the living room. Not so good for the carpet- lol! But it sure makes for some happy kids!

Betsy Escandon said...

We love dance parties!

{:miss v:} said...

What great ideas! I'll have to use some of them with Evan!

Nashville TV Show said...

Those are all great ideas!
I love the lego race ... my little one doesn't play with those too much just yet, but I could see doing that w/even things like coloring or something - fun!

Anonymous said...

Such cute ideas - my kids are grumpier on rainy days then they are on snow days (I'm in Michigan; we have a lot of both) and these are great!

Let'sMakeADifference said...

Such great ideas! Have you ever had your children play with shaving cream or (the cans of) whipped topping? I would let them spray a mound on a cookie tray and I would teach them letters of the alphabet by forming the letters in the topping on the tray! It's also fun playing with cars and trucks in the creme! Thanks for commenting on my blog!

kim said...

such cute ideas, we do some of those...my daughter loves to ice skate :)

ohAmanda said...

Really great ideas. I need to let mine do some water play. They would LOVE that.

And have I ever told you I love the pics on your sidebar w/the scriptures of your kids' names? I love purposeful scriptural names for kids! Mine are Lydia and Asa and I love speaking good names over them!

Kelly Sauer said...

I'm cringing and excited at the same time. if I am to use your very practical, brilliant ideas, I need to open my mind up to some messes. okay, maybe a LOT of messes.

sigh. my poor two-year-old. Mama's gettin' there...

Dorcas said...

OH! I love these ideas. We have done the tent, bath, story one but my favorite is the ice skating one. I will definitely do that one. That looks like so much fun. I am gonna join in the fun too! Thanks Grace

~blessings

Dorcas

Jessica said...

Great ideas! I'll have to file these away for when my son's a little older.

liz said...

Oh my! You are a better mom than me! Ice skating and playing chef? I don't have the nerves to withstand the mess. :)

Raising Saints said...

Sometimes I think we are very much alike! Your kids are adorable!

Grace~The Mommy On the Bus said...

Guess I should have clarified that the ice cube trays are EMPTY! ha ha ha...I'm not THAT daring of a momma! :)

Amydeanne said...

lol haven't tried the ice cube tray before.. i'll have to see about that one.. we've got an icemaker machine so don't have them in the frezer like i used to!

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