Did you have a fun day planned outdoors with your kids, but lousy weather forced you to change your plans? You don’t always have to resort to television or video games when you’re stuck inside. You can tap into your children’s creative sides with some simple arts and crafts. Participating in activities with your children helps you bond and ensure they do everything safely. Here are some rainy day crafting ideas to do with your kids to keep away the gray sky blues.
Put on a Puppet Show
Have some fun making a puppet show from start to finish:
Backdrop
You can use something as small as a cereal box or as big as a cardboard box to create your backdrop. Using scissors or other cutting tools, you can cut a square or circle into the box. Set aside the part of the box you just cut out, and use it as a marquee sign if you want! You can get as creative as you’d like when decorating the inside and outside of the stage.
Puppets
Your puppets can also be as intricate or as you’d like. If you have some old (hopefully clean) socks, you can draw faces on them with a marker. If you have brown bags or popsicle sticks, you can make more ornate designs with googly eyes, felt, construction paper, and more. Try out unique materials like pool noodles or foam that you feel comfortable working with; let your children explore creatively on various projects.
Design Your Story
Now that you’ve got your characters and your venue, let your imaginations run wild. Try to piece together who the characters are, where the setting is, what problems they need to solve, and any other story ideas you think your kids will love. Planning out the story so that the kids can act it out helps them work on creative and writing skills. When you’re ready, you can present your show to the whole family.
Use the Rain to Your Advantage
You can turn the rain into a tool to create unique artwork with this next rainy day crafting idea to do with your kids. All you need is watercolor paint, paintbrushes, sturdy paper, and a mostly covered spot where you can place the art outside without getting wet yourself. Have everyone paint some simple shapes or designs that can be separated or near each other. Try mixing assorted colors together, and be very liberal with the paint. While the paint is still wet, take the works of art outside, and leave them in the rain. The droplets will transform the color, blending it or creating unique patterns.
Mini Umbrellas
Creating mini umbrellas is an effortless project. All you need are coffee filters, pipe cleaners, and decorating materials. Fold a coffee filter in half, and apply any silly designs you’d like on it. When it’s dry, take a pipe cleaner, bend it like an umbrella handle, and attach it to the filter. Voila! You’ve got a unique umbrella perfect for (pretending) to keep dry.
