Ten Screen-Free Rainy Day Activities To Share With Your Kids

Ten Screen-Free Rainy Day Activities To Share With Your Kids. Hello everyone, I hope you are well. In today’s post, I will be sharing a guest post from Isabella Fisher. Isabell Fisher, a former teacher and co-founder of Little Hands Learning, will suggest ten fun activities with your children on a rainy day, which are guaranteed to drag them away from their iPad.

Playing and doing activities with your children supports their emotional and cognitive development. But it also creates special memories you and your children can hold onto forever. It makes your child feel special, and provides shared experiences you can talk about and reminisce about.

Ten Screen-Free Rainy Day Activities To Share With Your Kids

Playing and doing activities with your children is suitable for everyone. It supports their emotional and cognitive development. It creates special memories that you and your children can hold onto forever and makes your child feel special.

So here are our top 10 activities for when you are stuck at home on a rainy day. These activities are easy to set up, and you will probably already have most of what you need at home.

Read A Book Together

Reading is a quick and mess-free activity that requires no prep at all. Sharing a book has enormous educational and emotional benefits for your children. Giving your children the time and your full attention whilst reading a book provides them with comfort and security and builds their self-esteem.

If you feel ambitious and the book is set in a cave or under a bridge, build a den and make some popcorn.

Playdough Small World Play

Playdough is one of the ultimate open-ended toys on the market because it is versatile. Add some dinosaur figures and green playdough, and you create Jurassic Park.

Or use dark blue playdough and some space rockets to travel into space together!

If the smell and texture of big-branded playdough fill is something you’re not keen on, some great small businesses out there produce amazingly soft and scented play dough that doesn’t leave a greasy residue on surfaces. Please check that the playdough has been UKCA tested before buying to know it is safe for your children to play with.

Baking

Our children love to bake and, of course, eat the goodies they have made. Baking shortbread and scones are simple enough for inexperienced bakers to have a go at and taste great!

Baking bread is also surprisingly simple, and you and your children can have lots of fun creating different animals out of the dough to bake in the oven.

Painting

Children love to paint, but it can fill many parents with dread. Instead of using poster paint, which can get messy quickly, try using watercolour paints. Instead of painting on paper, try coffee filters, a canvas or ice cubes.

Arts and Crafts

Arts and crafts do not need to be overly complicated. Often keeping it simple is far better than creating something elaborate. Try making paper boats and planes and seeing how far they will travel.

You can make tealight holders from old jam jars and glue them on pieces of tissue paper. These also make lovely presents for grandparents.

Salt dough is a modelling material that uses ingredients you will have in your kitchen cupboards, so it’s a beautiful alternative to air-dry clay. To make salt dough, add 63g of flour and 70g of salt to a bowl and slowly combine 45ml of water with the dry ingredients. Stop adding water once the dough comes together. Use your hands to squidge and squish the dough until it is smooth. If it is too wet, add a little flour or if it is too dry, add a little more water. You can create decorations, dinosaur fossils, and play food with this dough.

To add an extra sensory dimension to your salt dough, you can add spices, such as cinnamon or ground coffee. You only need to add a teaspoon of these to your mix.

Bake your salt dough creations in the oven on the lowest setting for 3-4 hours until stiff to the touch. Once cool, they can be painted.

Make A Treasure Map

This is a beautiful activity for any pirate fan, and it uses resources you will have at home. You need some crayons, a piece of white card and a tea bag.

First, design your map. Begin by drawing a large, rounded oblong onto the middle of your card. Add arrows to create the compass and draw features like a skull, mountains, palm trees and a pirate ship on the sea. Decide where your treasure will be buried on your island and add an X. Next pour some warm water into a bowl and add your tea bag. Let the tea bag infuse into the water. Place the card onto a towel or tea towel – this will soak up any excess water. Squeeze the excess water out of the tea bag and dab the tea bag all over the card. Dipping the tea bag back into the warm water when needed. Leave the card to dry, and then use it to find your treasure.

Rescue Plastic Figures From Ice

This activity is a firm favourite with my son and is one I always have ready-made in the freezer for a rainy day.

You will need a small freezer-safe container, plastic figures and some water. Place the toys in the container and fill it with water. The smaller the container, the easier it will be to rescue the toys later. Place the toy and water-filled containers into the freezer overnight.

Turn the ice blocks onto a plate or tray and fill a bowl with warm water. Add a pipette or syringes to the bowl and let your little one rescue their toys.

You could also experiment to see what melts the ice quickest. So, you can add some salt or some cold or hot water to hypothesise what may happen.

Brew A Magic Potion

Brewing a magic potion is always a prevalent activity with children and uses ingredients already in your kitchen cupboard. Raid your spice drawer, add water and some old jam jars, and watch as your children create more exciting concoctions.

If you want to make your magic potions more elaborate, add bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and distilled vinegar. Your children will love the reaction these three ingredients create in their potions.

Design And Play Your Own Board Game

Designing your own board game is a fun way to learn about design and teamwork and hide any maths learning they may be struggling with at school. All you need is a piece of paper, some pens, some counters (which could be little toy figures) and some dice.

Begin by creating a simple grid on your piece of paper. Then, decide on the rules of your game. Will you get another turn if you roll a specific number? How many players can play at any one time? Will some squares will allow you to jump forwards or take you backwards? Should any snakes, ladders, trees, or slides be included on your game board? How will you decide who has won the game?

Together, create and decorate your board game. Play and enjoy!

Try An Easy Science Experiment!

There are lots of easy science experiments that can be tried at home with household items. Science experiments are a great way to get children to start to ask questions, make predictions and understand the world around them. Try making a lava lamp with water, food colouring, and oil in a jar. Add an effervescent tablet and watch what happens!

For these ideas and many more, please visit https://www.littlehandslearning.co.uk/activities.

If you like the sound of these activities but are limited on time, there are lovely children’s scriptions out there that can send you everything you need directly to your home every month. All you need to do is make yourself a tea, open the box and get ready to play with your child.

I hope you enjoyed that.

Talk soon

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Isabell Fisher is co-founder of Little Hands Learning, an educational and eco-friendly subscription box for children aged three to six. Every month your child will receive an exciting gift in the post containing a beautiful picture book and everything needed for four engaging and fun activities.

The play-based activities are handcrafted and designed by teachers to focus on critical areas of the National Curriculum. The curated books and activities help nurture healthy minds and encourage early literacy skills, giving children the best start in their education. www.littlehandslearning.co.uk

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