Rainy/Snowy/Too Hot Day inside Ideas

We just had our first snowday of the year in MI. I'm all about snowdays, my kiddos get to stay home an extra day with me...however, sometimes it's hard to keep them busy for the whole day. Thanks to pinterest, I've been creating a board over the past few years with indoor game ideas to do on those too rainy weeks, too cold/snowy days, and too hot days when you can't get outside and play. The weather was too cold/bitter for the kids to play outside yesterday so they had to be stuck inside and I was excited to try out my little "bucket of tricks".  Before I share with you just SOME of the things we tried (I had to not do all of them as to save some for the next time), I would suggest creating your own "idea box" and put it together so you have it ready when the time comes. 

I used a big 18 gallon tote. After I had a bunch of ideas on my Pinterest board, I sorted through the ideas and made a shopping list. After I had my list of items needed (many of them I already had on hand, so those things just went right into my tub), I knew I couldn't by everything in 1 shopping trip. Since we are pretty strict on our budget (Dave Ramsey crazies over here), I decided to put 1-2 things on my weekly grocery list and spread it out over a period of time. I've been compiling my box of things for a while now. Once I had all the items for a certain project, I printed the directions and placed it in my bucket. Now to sit and wait until the snowy/rainy/too hot to go outside day.

This is a pretty weak "snowday" for us in MI....but the wind and the windchill is what kept us from having school that day

If you have already printed the directions for each idea and have them in your box, then you know what projects you can do. As you finish getting items for your ideas, put the directions in the box.

my box - a work in progress

Here is just a glimpse of some of the fun from yesterday's snow day.

The weekend before the snow day we tried the paper airplane target (this was fun!)

bought a piece of poster board at the dollar store for .69cents and cut holes of different sizes. I had to use ribbon to hand mine lower for my little guys. But you could hand it from the top of the doorway if your kids are older.

I let the boys color their piece of paper first, then daddy helped assemble the airplanes. We put painters tape down on the floor at different spots to try and fly their planes through the targets.

Another fun science/art project is to fill a muffin tin with vinegar and food coloring (you don't need a lot in each one!), fill baking dishes with a small layer of baking soda. The boys used pipettes I purchased on amazon (eye droppers would work too) and had a blast making the colors fizz and mix. EASY clean up too! Just dump out, rinse, and put in the dishwasher!

We set rules before beginning. I show them how to get the vinegar in the pippette, we practice. They know that the liquid is to only go in the pan and we aren't to squirt it out like crazy! If we don't follow the rules, we don't do the activity.

The "paint" shirts we use are old shirts from my husband, I cut them in half and then put them on the boys and clip with a chip clip at the neck area.

I purchased this child tent at a garage sale this summer for $3! I usually only set it up on days when we are stuck inside. The boys love to play games, read, and just relax in the tent and pretend to "camp".

Another fun pinterest idea! Water "table". I took an under the bed storage bin and filled it with two pails of water (like a larger sand pail from the beach) I wanted enough water for them to explore, but not too much where they'd make a huge mess. I laid down a plastic tablecloth (you can buy the seasonal ones at the end of each season on clearance for around $2 or less) Before the water was even put in, we established the rules:

* Water says IN the tub, if it gets poured out on purpose - you're done

* No splashing

* Keep toys over the bin to play

* Have Fun!

I bought all the cups, spoons, etc. from the dollar store. The bingo chips I purchased on amazon. The boys had fun making "soup" and we talked about the colors and sorted them too. My youngest is 21 months and obviously needed supervision with this activity not only for the bingo chip safety of not putting them in his mouth, but just with the water in general. I'm pleased to say he did quite well and was the only one who needed to get new pants at the end!

This activity is really fun too! Glade Press and Seal (sticky side out), painters tape around to secure on the window/door and cut tissue paper into small squares and make a beautiful sun catcher/mosaic on the window! Depending on the creativity and age of your child, there can be some pretty fun designs.

My 3 year old was done at this point, but my 5 year old worked hard to fill in each clear space with his squares. This was a great activity for them to do while I got lunch ready.

When all else fails, I bust out the play-doh. Play-doh is not something we do on a regular basis at our house...so when I got it out on this day they played for at least 45 minutes (glorious!) and had a great time! I have large trays that they keep the playdoh on which helps with clean up too.

Keep following for another post on more fun snowy/rainy/too hot for outside play ideas! I'd love to hear some of your favorite go-to activities for indoor days at your house!