Collaborative Post
We love spending time outdoors and taking the children to castles and outdoor spaces in our local areas. There’s nothing better than some fresh air and some wind in your hair, and to help the children get a good night’s sleep at the end of the day. But some days the weather just isn’t good enough. And especially in the winter months, we have to be creative, in keeping our children entertained. So what ways can we come up with that will keep them entertained, and also learning along the way? There are many ideas, and some people find that a quick Google search will bring up some wonderful ideas. But here are some extra tips for you, hopefully calmer than others have found useful in the past.
Electronics
Even though we don’t encourage our children to sit down and go on screens all of the time – at times the weather calls for it. We don’t always have to worry about screen time, especially if there are some educational apps that have been downloaded. Also, you can choose to watch films via TroyPoint that will keep you entertained on a rainy afternoon too, then this can be a great option. We have access to so many different old movies and TV shows from our own childhood now, then you can actually share these with your children. Why not help them appreciate the Ghostbusters? Or even Labyrinth? There’s absolutely nothing wrong with spending a bit of time in front of a screen, as life is all about balance. We all love watching a movie or box set with some popcorn on a rainy day.
Arts and crafts
Taking out the pencils and pens, and even a bit of glue and paint is a great time for children. Making hand prints for the little ones, or even a new piece of art for the wall in your home. And creating these things together can actually be a great bonding experience. So making sure that you spend time having plenty of fun with the paints, and crayons, as it is a great way to spend an afternoon time if it’s raining outside.
Board games
Many families enjoy spending an afternoon with board games. Plenty of people have tournaments or dig out the big catalogue of Board Games to spend time playing with each other. It can get competitive, so it’s always good to keep an eye on who’s doing what. But as long as you manage everyone’s expectations, and help them realise that we can’t win all the time, then lots of fun can be had. Lots of people love to play Monopoly, but that’s not everybody’s idea of fun. There is chess, snap, or no, Chequers or even Cluedo, and everybody has their own preferences. Having a marathon board game session of a game of Life, can easily take a good hour or so, so get the snacks ready and enjoy a rainy afternoon board game session.
So even though the weather may not be on your side. And you may have had to change your plans. You can, of course, enjoy this time with your family, some of my best childhood memories are of playing card games in the caravan during the pouring rain so you’ll be making indoor rainy day memories with your children too!
Always good fun with children indoors and out
We to love to get outside and living near the beach is an added bonus, we pick up things along the shore, then on rainy days we have a day crafting with what we have found, all great fun
Keeping odds and ends that might otherwise go into the recycling or the bin is a great idea for rainy day arts and crafts. I always buy large paper pads when I see them in discount stores, too, so they are ready for a bit of drawing or applique..