Category: Rainy Day

Treasure Hunt

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We were stuck inside from wind and rain – the perfect chance to brighten up the day and set up a treasure hunt! All you need is crepe paper and a treasure waiting at the end.

You can either set up this game while your child naps or is in another room, but I knew Travis would be very into the crepe paper itself, so he helped me roll it and spread it all around.

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You can make your trail as complicated or simple as you like. We looped around door handles…

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… and wound under pillows…

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…and crisscrossed multiple trails.

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Because we’re in the holiday season, the prize waiting at the end of our line was a candy cane – the first one Travis has ever had, leading to much delight! Any similar simple-yet-joyful prize is sure to brighten even the dreariest day.

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As a bonus, Travis then invented games with the leftover crepe paper for quite a while!

Rainy-Day Pictures

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When summer thunderstorms are rolling through, this cute project can keep toddlers cheerful inside!

First, help your child draw a rainy day scene, in whatever way they like. I made a few gray clouds as a prompt, and Travis added blue swirls of rain – and later some pink and green, because why not!

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Now it’s time to get gluey! Use a paintbrush to apply glue liberally to the paper. Fold cupcake liners in half and glue on – these will be your umbrella tops. Add glue underneath each umbrella, and press on yarn for the handles.

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To be honest, Travis wasn’t much into this project, other than the glue (which he loved!) so I made the umbrellas. I like having the picture hang on our fridge, though, so we can talk about it when rainy days roll around again.

Tea Party

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I’ve joked in the past that tea parties are very gender-neutral affairs around here – trucks and cars have been distinguished “guests” in the past!

A rainy evening gave us the perfect opportunity to host another party, and Travis had fun mapping out the whole event. He started by writing “invitations” for the guests, after I showed him an example.

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Next up was making sure every guest had a party hat!

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I asked him what we should serve, and he enthusiastically decided, “Cookies!” Since I had none on hand, peanut butter crackers made a nice substitute.

As a special treat, we used “real tea” (i.e. water) in the teapot, and Travis was very careful pouring for his guests…

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…and making sure everyone had a sip!

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I love watching his imagination at work in games like this, and am reminded that tea parties are not just for little girls. What “guests” have been invited to food parties at your house? What did you serve? Please share in the comments!

Rain-Themed Day!

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We have blazing sunshine here today, and we’re waiting for a rain storm to come break the heat. In the meantime, Travis and I are making our own rain at home!

He loved the gross motor play to fit our theme – making a downpour with various kitchen colanders and sieves. The kitchen sink was a bit high for him, even on his stepstool…

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So I moved things to the kitchen floor. Spread a towel underneath, and you won’t need to worry about “puddles”!

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Travis loved scooping and pouring, as well as seeing the way water ran through the holes of the colander.

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When he tired of that, he asked if he could get in the basin of water we were using. I rolled up his pants and had him pretend it was a real puddle, and he had a blast stomping and making bubbles and waves with his feet.

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Even better, if you’re doing these activities on a real rainy day, put on some rubber boots and head outdoors to stomp!

For fine motor skills, we made a raincloud. Trace a rough outline of a cloud on blue construction paper, and have your child cover the area with glue before pressing down cotton balls. Don’t worry if the cotton ends up outside the lines, of course!

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Travis loved this part, so much so that he needed to make a second cloud while our first was drying.

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I was surprised he wasn’t more into the idea for raindrops – little teardrop shapes cut from shiny foil. So after he dabbed on more glue, I arranged the “rain” myself.

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Round out your themed day with other rain toys you can think of – shake rain sticks, do a rain dance, or bring out bath toys and have a “storm” at bathtime.

A great nursery rhyme to recite is Doctor Foster:

Doctor Foster went to Gloucester

In a shower of rain.

He stepped in a puddle

Right up to his middle

And never went there again.

We also sang our favorite rainy day songs (Rain Rain Go Away; I Hear Thunder), and ended the day with a book about rain (Soggy Saturday).

And how perfect: by bedtime we were rewarded with this:

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Rain Sticks

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Travis and I woke up to a rainy morning – so what better activity than to make a rain stick? You only need a few household items to put this craft together.

Start with a paper towel tube, and let your child decorate any way they like. I drew a few blue raindrops as prompts and told Travis we were drawing a stormy day, so he was very excited to use blue for rain, black for storm clouds, and white for lightning.

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Close up one end of the rain stick with a sheet of aluminum foil, and secure with masking tape. Parents, I learned through trial and error that a double (or triple!) layer of foil is a safe idea here, so you don’t get any pesky holes.

Next, shape a pipe cleaner into a loose coil, and have your child insert into the tube. Can I be honest? I have no idea what the pipe cleaner is for. To give the rice inside the rain stick something to fall down around, perhaps? Ah well, I followed instructions, so in goes the pipe cleaner.

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This next step was Travis’s favorite part. Let your child help you pour dry rice into the tube. Make sure you don’t add too much (in which case the rice can’t shake around enough); a 1/4 cup felt like a good amount. Seal up the other end of the tube with foil and tape, and your rain stick is ready for shaking!

Travis had some fun with the imaginative task of “raining” on flowers we have here at home..

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…after which he made it rain over his barn and animals.

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No matter what the weather, rain sticks make great instruments, so tuck this project away until the next time you and your toddler have a music-making session.