staycation

Weather Dreary? Get Ready For Rainy Day Activities

Summer is here! So you are all stocked up on sunscreen, have the sunglasses and sandals ready, and the grill is just screaming for you to cook up some barbecue but then, ugh, it rains. Though sunny summer days are always the hope, the weather can let us down. But do not despair. There are still a variety of fun activities your family can enjoy. Get ready for rainy day activities!

Rain or Shine Dining

One thing that the family can do no matter what the weather is to enjoy a delicious meal together. Making food together as a family is a great indoor activity and the kids will love it all the more since they had a hand in making it. Assemble some yummy sandwiches and pack your favorite snacks into a basket. Lay a blanket down in the living room for a fun and unique indoor picnic!

Kids and adults like satisfying that sweet tooth so why not make some cookies? Cut them into fun shapes and let the kids decorate them with whatever frostings and sprinkles they like!

And though it may be raining cats and dogs outside, it is still likely to be warm enough that the kids will be screaming for ice cream (and July is National Ice Cream Month – it must be celebrated!) Homemade Ice Cream in a bag is a simple and fun treat that will make the kids feel like little kitchen-chemists!

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Bust a Move

A fun way to spend time together on a rainy day is to break out the tunes! Move furniture to clear out some space for an indoor dance party. Your kids will love it! If it’s nighttime, turn down the lights and plug in some black lights or strobe lights to really set the dancing mood! If you have a karaoke machine, take turns singing karaoke songs and laugh at each other while trying to be the next star of the house! No karaoke machine? YouTube has a lot of karaoke versions of your favorite songs. With a little searching you still can make a fun karaoke night at no cost!

Summer fun does not have to end just because it is raining! Here are some fun rainy day activities to do with your #kids #familyfun Share on X

Lights, Camera, Action!

Getting together as a family to enjoy a movie or tv show is a great thing to do on a rainy day and the more you make it into a big event, the more fun it will be! Make it a themed movie night. Pick a theme that goes along with a great family-friendly movie. Now, decorate the living room according to that theme and make fun craft that goes along with it . Some great crafts for movie night could be “ticket stubs” from index cards or decorating bags for your popcorn!

Speaking of popcorn, no movie night is complete without a go-to snack. To really shake things up, prepare a variety of fixings and toppings such as flavored seasonings or chocolate drizzle for a real sweet and salty treat!

When choosing what to watch, either break out a classic off the shelf or stream some of your favorite content online. If you are looking for clean content without the need to pre-screen what you are going to watch, Pure Flix offers faithful, inspirational Christian movie and TV options here. They also have a selection of wholesome shows, comedy specials, animated features, educational content and more.

Indoor Camping

Summer and camping go hand in hand but the rain can put a damper on that as well. A fun alternative to camping outside is to set up an indoor camping night with the kids! Pop the tent indoors, set up flameless candles to give the room a campfire glow, and stick glow in the dark stars on the ceiling to bring the summer nighttime atmosphere indoors. If you want to really go all out with setting the stage, move potted plants around your camping space and place some stuffed animals around the room.

Put away the phones and tablets and sit in a circle telling stories as if you were sitting outside in the great outdoors. Play board games and card games under the relaxing sound of the rain outside the window. Of course, camping would be incomplete without some tasty s’mores so be sure to enjoy this camping staple on your rainy camping night! When the fun comes to an end, the kids can get into their sleeping bags and hopefully they awake to a sunny morning to come.

No one looks forward to a gloomy day of rain but family activities such as these can make those days fun and memorable for the whole family!

Do you have any rainy day activities that your family loves?

Enjoy!

10 Ways To Fight Cabin Fever: Bring Summer To You!

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10 ways to fight cabin fever, kids activities, family fun

Tired of being cold? Indoors way too long? You may have “cabin fever.” Cabin Fever= irritability and listlessness caused from being confined way too long. If this sounds like you, beat the wintertime blues by bringing a little summer into your lives while you’re waiting it out.

1. Float a Boat

Children love to play in water. Get out some floatable toys – boats, rubber duckys, clean-empty plastic bottles, balls – and let them play in the water! Set up a big dish pan, fill the sink or bathtub or even set up a wading pool in the basement. Let them splash and have fun.*

*Water safety!. You are the lifeguard. Do not leave your child unattended. Do not even turn you back on your precious little ones in the bathtub, sink or pool EVER. Another toddler safety reminder: toilets are attractive. Keep the lid and the bathroom door closed.

2. Go Camping – camp out indoors. Set up a pup tent or build tents using chairs, tables and blankets right in the living room. Make a pretend campfire or, if you have a fireplace, a real one. Roast marshmallows over that fire or make smores in the microwave. Pop popcorn, too. Create the image of camping under the stars with a projector. Many children now have stuffed animal night-lightsthat are perfect for creating the effect.

3. Playground – some restaurants, like McDonalds, have indoor playgrounds where your little ones can play. If there isn’t one nearby, get creative and make one right in your home. Little slides and sandboxes made from kiddie pools go a long way in the “fun department.”

4. Go Swimming – take a daytrip to an indoor water park or head on over to the YMCA. Some communities have public swim times available at local high schools. Check around.

5. Take a Walk – go someplace different. Walk at the mall or local museum. If you have a mall where there is a carousel ride, what an extra treat! Add an ice cream cone to sum up the excursion and you have had a super fun time out.

6. Carnival – set up a carnival day play date with some other families. Everyone contributes one game to the event and meets at a central location. Your house? Game ideas: ball crawl (balls in a wading pool), fishing for toys, ring toss, crawling tunnel, plastic slide, indoor sandbox, craft table.

kids activities, playtime, preschool, toddlers, movement

7. Have A Picnic Indoors – pack up a lunch in a picnic basket (or put it on trays) and lay out a blanket on the floor somewhere that is not the kitchen: living room, child’s bedroom, family room–different! Make simple sandwiches cut into fun shapes, snacks and juice boxes. Voilá! “A pic-ka-nic , Boo Boo” (as Yogi Bear would say)

Family Fun: 10 Ways to Fight Cabin Fever

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Other Not-So-Summery But Fun Activities:

8. Write in Shaving Cream – yes! Foam piles of shaving cream onto a cookie sheet and let your little guys write, draw and make shapes in the squishy mess!

9. Play Dough is always a winner! Especially if you haven’t done it for a while, play dough (or Play Doh) will keep your little ones busy for hours. Get out rolling pins, cookie cutters, plastic safety-scissors and other tools for them to use.

10. Board Games – set aside time to play games with your kids. Housework will always be there. Give them undivided time playing games, coloring or whatever activity appeals to you all at the time.

So what do you do to beat “cabin fever?”

Note: this author is an Amazon affiliate.

Anything purchased from Amazon through Ducks ‘n a Row may result in a small commission for me. In advance, thank you! …Sinea

Photo credits:

Sneak Peek by ArminH on Stock Xchng
Ball Crawl DNAMichaud on Flickr CC
Tot in Tunnel by janetmck on Flickr CC
Lego Steamboat by Elsie esq. on Flickr CC
Swimming Indoors from Pixabay
Boy Playing With Play Dough by Chris Parfitt on Flickr CC

Simple Summers — 12 Great Ideas for Taking Vacations at Home

12 Great Ideas for Taking Vacations at Home

1. Backyard Carnival

Invite the neighborhood kids for a carnival right in your yard. Set up areas for bean bag toss, a wading pool for fishing for toys,
do face painting, serve fun snacks. Enlist the help of other parents and older siblings to get everyone involved!

2. Lemonade Stand
Set your kids up in business with an old-fashioned lemonade stand. Depending on how business goes, you may want to match the intake with some money from your own pocketbook and take the little guys to the store to spend it.

(If the money is destined for the piggy-bank, plan some kind of a celebration for a job well done. How about making homemade pizzas?)

3. Rainy Days
Summer is meant to always be sunny, isn’t it? But sometimes it’s not. On rainy days, get out the board games, have movies and popcorn or go outside to play in the puddles!

4. Visit a Petting Zoo

Free petting zoos are lots of fun for the kids. If you don’t have a regular petting zoo
in your neighborhood, keep your eye out for the county fair where similar opportunities are available. Of course, you can always go to the “real” zoo, too. Look for discount coupons to cut the cost a bit.

5. Go Fishing
Do you have a fishing hole nearby? A creek, pond or lake will do. Bring your sunscreen, pole-hooks-bait, and for adults, a fishing license (most states require one) and have a great time outdoors. Keep the cell phone with you for emergencies, but turn it off for a quiet, uninterrupted time with the family.

6. Put on a Play
Do you have some young thespians in your household?
Suggest that they put on a backyard play.
Invite their friends and other siblings to take part —parents can be the audience.

7. Water Day
Similar to the carnival, plan a water day. Set up areas with a wading pool, slip ‘n slide, sprinkler, water balloons. Get ’em wet. Have lunch on hand…all that water and fresh air works up an appetite!

8. Family Picnic
Get out the cooler, stuff it with great food and cold drinks, load up the kids and the dog and go to a park for a family picnic. Bring frisbees and other “picnic toys”, too.

9. Little League

Got any young ballplayers in the crowd? Little league is not just for kids.

Make it a family occasion. Plan more than just going to the game.

Add on a stop at the ice cream stand on the way home.

10. Homemade Ice Cream
Speaking of ice cream, have you ever made your own in an old fashioned crank-style ice cream maker? It is an experience that every child should have. Get the whole family involved!

11. Bike Parade
Invite the neighborhood to join in a bike parade. Get out the streamers and the camera for this colorful event. Tiny tots can ride decorated wagons with their parents pulling them along. Even pets can join in, but they must be “decorated”, of course.

12. Camp Out
Pitch a tent in the back yard, or indoors, and let the kids have an overnight.

Set up a bonfire in the backyard and provide hotdogs and marshmallows to roast over the flame–of course you will want to make S’mores.

Need a night off from kids? Plan with another family to host an overnight at one house and another at yours.

Each set of parents gets a night to themselves.

What stay-at-home vacation ideas can you come up with?
Help us grow our list!

Enjoy!

Note: this blog includes Affiliate Links.

Photo credits:
Facepainting from MyTinyTots
Girl Slip ‘n Slide from Thundafunda
Child with Ice Cream Cone by Stuart Miles Freedigital Photos
S’mores by OakleyOriginals Flickr creative commons