Rainy Day Toys

I usually don’t mind the rain, but after enduring an incredibly soggy October, I began to dread those stuck-indoors days.  The kids would start bouncing off the walls.  No playground.  No nice, meandering walks.  No t-ball in the front yard.  But of course there was more than enough squabbling between siblings!  What can we do on those days when it’s too cold or too wet to play outside?

Luckily there are lots of toys out there that are perfect for dreary days:

• Break Out the Board Games: Puzzles and games are another great way to enjoy a bad-weather day.  Recall your own childhood days with classics like Memory, Candy Land, and Chutes and Ladders.  Older kids might enjoy Qwirkle or CrossWise, Pictionary, or Sequence.  Puzzles are good for kids’ brains, and they can even make their own by using MindWare’s Puzzle Maker.  Card games can also be a fun way to spend a rainy day – remember Old Maid and Go Fish?
• Get Crafty: Crafts are another great indoor activity.  Set up the art easel and let your little artists go to town.  Get out stickers, glue, paints, and markers and let your children make birthday cards or pictures for friends or relatives.  Play Doh and clay are fun ideas, as are creating jewelry or other beaded crafts.  Check out MindWare’s Fashion Angels, which allows kids to create their own fun and fabulous fashions for 15 paper dolls, or the Make Your Own Mask kit, which includes mask forms and decorations such as hats, glasses, and feathers.
• Make Some Music: If you can withstand the noise (or if you have a good set of ear plugs), get out those musical instruments and let your small maestros create their own songs.  You can also get out the CD player and dance to music or play “freeze frame,” where someone stops the music and the dancers need to freeze their poses until the music starts up again.
• Use Your Imagination: Another activity would be to get out a big cardboard box (which you have wisely saved for just this occasion) for the kids to decorate.  Throw in some markers, egg cartons, and tape, and they can make a spaceship, castle, hospital—whatever their imaginations can conjure.  You can also allow your kids to take over the family room building a fort with blankets and pillows.
• Build It: Building toys are great—Legos, building blocks, and train sets will keep kids’ attention and help them use their imagination.
• Get Sporty (Inside): Look for sports adapted for indoor use, like mini golf, indoor badminton, bean bag toss.  Or check out Dodge Tag (also available from MindWare), which features indoor-friendly soft balls that stick to players’ ‘target’ vests.

So the next time the forecast calls for rain or bitter cold, I’ll be ready.  No boredom shall be allowed in my house!  I just need to be sure to save that big cardboard box and invest in a good pair of earplugs.