A gloomy rainy day can ruin anyone’s mood and hope for a fun weekend, but it doesn’t have to. Parents can do many different things with their children when it’s raining that can be just as fun as being outside.
In this article, we have gathered some exciting projects and ideas for rainy day activities for you and your kids to enjoy.
Start an indoor herb garden
Gardening, in general, is a very good activity for children. It teaches them patience, respect for nature, and finding joy in giving life and taking care of something else. And if they are too young and can’t take care of a pet, then a small indoor herb garden is a perfect choice.
And what better time to start one than a rainy day?
Things you will need
- Gardening tools – You will need a twine, trowel, pruning saw, shears, gardening gloves and a cultivator.
- Containers and pots with drainage holes – If you don’t have proper plant pots, you can use many other things – an old yogurt container, plastic bowls, or ice cream cups; it doesn’t matter as long as you can put holes on the bottom.
- Soil – Look for a special potting soil mix for herbs so that you can give them optimal living conditions.
- Fertiliser – Again, there are special fertilisers that would work the best with herbs, so see what you can get for the ones you have chosen.
- Gravel – Put it at the bottom of the pots, under the soil, to improve the drainage.
- Name tags for the different herbs – You don’t want to get them mixed up after all!
- A cool-mist humidifier – It’s a good idea to provide conditions similar to the ones outside, so a humidifier is definitely recommended. It works by slowly releasing a cool mist without any artificial scents, keeping your herbs moist and happy.
- Light – We recommend that you invest in growth lights for your herbs since the natural light is not always enough, especially if you’re doing it during the winter or autumn season. LED lights are the best ones for herbs.
How to include your kids
- Let your children paint the containers and labels. They can make drawings of the herbs, as well, learning their names and how they look.
- Create a journal for the herb growing process. You can put inside what type of soil is used, how often should they be watered, and all the other specifics. Again, give your children the freedom to do this project in a way that is interesting to them so that they don’t give up and enjoy the process.
- Create a special corner for the indoor herb garden and let your kids decorate it to their taste.
- Let them plant with you. This can be especially difficult if you’re a perfectionist who doesn’t want anything to go wrong, but that’s not a good idea when working with kids. Accept that the whole process would most likely be a complete mess, but you have to let your kids be a part of it and make mistakes so that they can truly learn, and most importantly, have fun while doing it.
How to grow herbs indoors
Luckily, most herbs require more or less the same conditions, so there is no need to list the special requirements of each one. Still, we recommend that you read a little bit about each herb and check out if it needs something more. You can put all of that information in the journal that you’ve created with your kids.
Otherwise, here are the basic recommendations for taking care of herbs indoors:
- Plant the different species of herbs in different plant pots.
- Don’t forget to put gravel at the bottom of the pot and top it up with the soil in order to improve the drainage.
- You can also add holes to your containers if you feel like there is not enough of them.
- If you’re planting multiple seeds in one container, make sure they are at least 5 cm apart.
- Wait for the soil to completely dry up before you water, so you don’t flood the herbs. They can rot very easily if they are overwatered.
- Start applying the fertiliser once the seeds start germinating.
- Give your plants at least 7 hours of light each day.
Best indoor herbs
Here is a list of all the best herbs that will have no problem growing indoors:
- Bay.
- Basil.
- Rosemary.
- Oregano.
- Thyme.
- Peppermint.
- Spearmint.
- Chives.
- Chervil.
- Parsley.
- Sage.
Build a dollhouse
Dollhouses are a great way to pass the time, and they are certainly a fan favourite. They can help with your child’s imagination and teach them how to entertain themselves and take care of their belongings.
However, dollhouses can sometimes be quite expensive, too big, or with designs that don’t fit with the interior of your kids’ room. Thankfully, you can make one yourself and build it in a way that will make your kids happy and look good in the room.
- Find your base. You can use an old bookshelf, a kitchen cupboard or a nightstand. You probably have one lying around that you don’t use or like, so why not give it a new life? If you don’t have one, ask around your friends and family or go to a thrift store.
- Disinfect it. Once you have the furniture, you have to clean and disinfect it. Go with a store-bought multi cleaner or a disinfectant. You can also make your solution from baking soda and white vinegar. If you’re buying from a thrift store or borrowing from a friend, inspect it for termites and bed bugs.
- Paint it. This is when it gets fun, and you can finally include your kids. Choose a base paint and a theme for the dollhouse. You can make it a literal dollhouse or a rocketship, for example. Leave this choice to your kid as they will be the ones playing with it, after all.
- Decorate the dollhouse. Decorate with Washi tape, stickers, crayon drawings, patchwork, whatever you can think of, and that will make your kids happy. If things go crazy, you can always include them in cleaning up the mess as a part of the game!
- Let the games start!
Play some cleaning games
Think of activities that will be both productive and fun. You will be able to show your kids that cleaning and tidying up doesn’t have to be a chore. Here are some suggestions from us on how you can make cleaning a fun game and have a productive rainy day with your kids.
Keep in mind that most of those games would probably require some sort of reward for the winners, so think of something they like. An extra 30 minutes on the phone, a marathon of their favourite animated movies, a fun fruit salad or anything else that will get them motivated.
Game of musical statues
Use music to motivate your kids when they’re doing chores. There are a couple of clever ways you can use music as a motivator. If playing musical statues around the house sounds like fun to you, then give it a whirl. Start by getting your kids to carry out the task and use the music between them. As they carry out the chore, pause the music so that they have to freeze in the position they are in. Play this game with as many people as you can from your family, and in the end, you can crown the person who has cleaned the most out of everybody.
The cleaning race
One of the most useful tidying games is the “time game,” in which you challenge your child to complete a tidying task in a certain amount of time. You can play this weekly, giving them an opportunity to beat their times from previous times. This can also turn into a regular game for your partner and children by setting up a friendly competition. The winning sibling gets stars on their achievement board.
Treasure hunt
Place various prizes underneath clutter all around the house. In order to find and keep the prizes, your children will have to tidy up the area that was hiding their treasure. You can go two ways about it:
- Hide a treasure underneath all the different piles, and when they clean it up, they will receive the item in question.
- Make it a real hunt and choose a starting point for their adventure. Underneath the different checkpoints, there will be clues hidden to find the next place and finally, the big treasure underneath the different checkpoints. This will ensure that your child does not give up after the second checkpoint just because they don’t want to do it anymore and they already have two treasures.
The wheel of cleaning tasks
Create a wheel or a board with different tasks. You can spin the wheel or roll a dice on the board to see what chores each person needs to do. In that game, you can also be a participant. Usually, kids tend to be more motivated when their parents are involved in the game as well. For every person who has completed the task, there will be a special prize of your choice.
Conclusion
Don’t let the weather bring you down, and don’t think that the only solution is to turn to technology. Take every opportunity to teach your children essential values and spend time with them doing fun activities.