Rainy Day Activities
WIC Playground
Indoor Fun
Listed below are some ideas for rainy days that you can do with your child. You will need to consider what adaptations to take, according to your child’s needs and abilities.
Gone Fishing
Tie a string that is 3 feet long to the end of a rod or stick. At the other end of the string attach a magnet with a hot glue gun. Color and cut out fish from colored paper. Glue a paper clip to each one. Let children fish from a chair, bed, or couch with the fish on the ground. On the back of the fish write activities that you can do inside. Ideas include:
- Build a fort
- Color with crayons
- Read books
- Sing a song
- Make a fun snack
- Dance to music
- Once an activity is over kids can go fish again for a new activity.
Grocery Shopping
Use a little plastic shopping cart or a plastic bin. Put some canned goods, unopened cereal boxes, and pasta on a shelf. Let the child pick the food they want to put in their cart. Have them purchase the food with fake money that you can make before hand or from a board game. Then have them place items in bags. Will that be paper or plastic? You may even try making a snack with the purchased foods!
Indoor Camping
Put sheets or blankets over the dining room table. Get flashlights, sleeping bags, books, and games to play inside your tent.
Indoor Maze
Make tunnels using chairs and sheets. Put two chairs together and place a sheet over it. Keep doing this until you have a long enough tunnel to play in.
Obstacle Course
Using masking tape make an obstacle course in your home. Place the masking tape on the floor and make a continuous path going under chairs, up onto the couch, through paper boxes, up or down the stairs, and to different rooms.
While doing the obstacle course have children do different activities such as:
- Build a tower out of blocks
- Put all the books on a shelf
- Put shoes or a jacket on
- Drink a small glass of water
- Do jumping jacks
- Do a somersault
- Eat a small fruit or vegetable snack
- Other simple tasks
- Time them each time they complete the course and see if it gets any faster.
Puddle Fun
Go outside in the rain with boots and raincoats on and float things in puddles. You can place wine corks, plastic lids, Tupperware, or anything else around that floats. If it is too cold outside to play in the rain try doing it in the bathtub or kitchen sink.
Treasure Dig
Fill a plastic bin or plastic container with rice, flour, or cornmeal to about 4 inches in depth. Bury small objects like miniature cars, animals, soldiers, blocks, and coins in the bin. Have the child dig for the buried treasures using spoons or mini shovels.
