Rainy Day Projects for Kids

Looking for a few fun ideas to keep the kids occupied on rainy days? It's not always easy to come up with fun things to do and if it rains all day, you'll need more than one good idea. You can always pop in a movie or play video games, but that doesn't take much creativity and doesn't necessarily promote creativity. With a little advanced planning you can have activities at the ready that both you and the kids will enjoy.

I haven't met a kid yet that didn't love building forts. In fact, I haven't met many adults that don't still find that fun. If you got chairs, blankets, christmas lights, and pillows you can help the kids make an outstanding fort. Before getting started, ask the kids to come up with a list of things they'd like to do in their fort. While you're gathering blankets and lights, they can gather items like coloring books and crayons, dolls, trucks, board games, play dishes and other fun items.

Next, pick the best place to build the fort. It should be a place in which the fort can remain for the remainder of the day, because once it's been built, they'll hate to tear it down! Don't worry too much about making a fort under the kitchen table. Forts are awesome place to have picnics.

Once you've selected the perfect spot, it's time to build. Binder clips or clothes pins work well for clipping blankets or sheets together as needed. Make sure you use breathable fabric and not plastic tarps.

If you plan this one in advance, you'll have an easier time keeping it a secret. Indoor scavenger hunts can be made using any item found around the house, but for kids, it's always more fun to hide items that they'll enjoy finding. For example, your list might include a blue plastic Easter egg. Inside the egg you can leave a clue about what to search for next. The pink plastic tumbler. Inside the tumbler is another clue with the name of the next item, and so on. If you have more than one child, prepare a list for each using different items. Inside the last item hidden, leave a special surprise (e.g. a dollar bill, a candy bar, etc.)

This little project is super simple and lots of fun. Just collect a few paint swatches in advance to save for a rainy day. You can get these at any hardware or paint store. You'll also need scissors, beads, hot glue, ribbon and any other accoutrements that you desire. Let the kids design their own. If you have enough swatches, they can stay occupied for quite some time.

This is super simple, and only a tad messy. You'll need to collect pinecones in advance. Hiking and collecting is a fun activity for a non-rainy day. You'll also need creamy peanut butter, a knife to spread it with, bird seed and ribbon. Simply lay out old newspapers. Pour bird seed onto the paper. Spread peanut butter liberally over entire pinecone and roll pinecone in the bird seed. Tie a ribbon to the top of the pinecone. When it stops raining, tie the pinecone to a bird feeder pole, tree branch or fence. The squirrels will be eating from it in no time and the kids will love watching!

Pudding parfaits are kind of like forts. I've never met anyone (child or adult) that didn't love them! They're easy to make and always delicious. You can incorporate granola, pound cake, crushed oreos or graham crackers and fruit in addition to your pudding and whipped cream layers. Let each child make their own for optimum satisfaction!