Rainy day after rainy day, freezing temperatures after freezing temperatures can leave kids feeling bored and can drive parents coo coo. In this post we list out of top 5 low to no prep indoor activities to bust rainy day boredom. Don't have time to read this post? Check out our reel on IG here!!
RAIN RAIN GO AWAY!
I am pretty sure it has rained or been way too cold to play outside for like a month or longer. I don't know about your kids, but mine NEED to go outside. Between not being able to send my kids outside to play, and not being able to go to many public places because of COVID concerns, we are all getting a little bored. Here are five rainy day boredom busters that are quick, easy, and don't leave a huge mess behind to clean up!
01 PAPER AIRPLANE CONTEST
Grab a stack of computer paper, some coloring utensils, and some tape. Encourage the kids to fold up a few ideas of their own, but also have some paper folding ideas on hand from Pinterest like these. Have each participant create a few different models of airplanes. Have them decorate and give each of their designs a name. Next, write out a few different test challenges for them to compete on. For example, the furthest, the highest, fly into a bucket, fly under the chair, etc. Have them each take turns attempting the challenge. You can even create a tournament like bracket if you think your kids can handle being competitive.
02 DANCE PARTY
Nothing gets the energy out like a good old fashion dance party. Stick on some music and start busting a move. If you child is reluctant at first, model some let loose behavior of your own and they are sure to join in! Our favorite dance party songs on Spotify are: Trolls Soundtrack, any Kidz Bop Jam, Laurie Berkner Band and more recently, the Chipmunk 's Soundtrack. As an added challenge, shout out things like, "everyone dance like a ________ (insert any type of animal!)." This is sure to get them thinking and laughing!
03 BALLOON TOSS
In our home, we call this "keepy uppy." Blow up a few balloons and trust me the kids will know what to do with them, but if they need a few prompts we have a few to share. The easiest is to just try to keep the balloon from hitting the ground, but you can also add in extra challenges when that begins to wear off, like, use only your feet or your elbow, or your butt! They will love these extra twists and challenges. You can have them partner up and hit it back and forth, or against a plain wall. You can even try and give them an object to use to keep it up, like a stiff pillow, or notebook. It is amazing how long a balloon can keep them entertained!
04 PUPPET SHOW
This one could really take some time, and potentially create a little bit to clean up afterwards, but it is really all in your hands how you want to tackle it. A simple approach would be to have them draw on some old socks, or use stuffed animals that they already have in their rooms. Or you can make it more elaborate and bring out some heavier duty crafting materials, like paper bags, googly eyes, and yarn. Then you can either give them a prompt to start with, or have them create their own story. Have them create tickets to hand out to the show, and maybe even make a popcorn snack for the audience. At the end of every show we always invite the performers out to sign autographs and take selfies with the audience. It is always fun to see what their little minds come up with!
05 OBSTACLE COURSE
This one can sometimes create a mess to clean up, but if you start off by reminding your kids, that as soon as the activity is over we will all help pitch in to put the parts away, it will make the clean up go easier. For this I usually just grab chairs for them to crawl under or set two chairs back to back a little bit a part and place a broom between them to create a bridge, pile up pillows to "climb" a mountain, a hula hoop for them to jump into, and a set of soft balls to toss into a near by basket. Sometimes I will grab the painters tape and mark spots for them to jump too, and occasionally I bring out our hopscotch rug we found on Amazon. You can add in other elements too, like roll a toy car into a can, crawl under a rope, slide on your belly, walk like a crab, skip, hop or jump your way through it!
AND MORE!
Of course there are a lot of other amazing activities to do inside, and this list could go on forever....
-hide and seek
-reading
-fort building
-baking or cooking together (see our post Muffin' To It)
-art
-legos
-etc etc
But we hope some of the ideas above inspired you and your family! Be sure to share with us how you are busting the COVID, cold weather, rainy day boredom on our social media with #tamemycircus.