Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Saving for a Rainy Day...

My two-year-old recently replied to my husband's proposition that he save his money for a rainy day with, "No Daddy, then it would get all wet!" Rainy days are inevitable and so is stir-craziness unless you get creative with how to spend them. Here are some rainy day activities for which you don't have to save any money!

1. Don't plan many activities at all. Don't we all wish for days amidst our busy schedules when we can have very little, or even nothing at all planned? Capitalize on this opportunity to stay dry and cozy inside and allow for hours of free-play, reading together in bed, pulling out old games and puzzles or whatever your kids enjoy.

2. Go to the mall. We have lived in several different cities now and even the smaller towns have malls with something exciting for the kids. Some are extremely kid-friendly with duck ponds and carousels and other might just have escalators and elevators. If nothing else, it's a covered place to allow your kids a venue to blow off some steam before heading back home.

3. Barnes and Noble. Every Barnes and Noble I've been to lately has a Thomas the Train train table and my boys love it! Play with trains, read books and sneak a coffee or hot chocolate from the bookstore cafe for yourself!

4. Go to the library. If you often bemoan the fact that you can't seem to carve enough reading time into your schedule, head to the library for a morning or afternoon surrounded by shelves and shelves of new books.

5. Daily Candy. Check out this website, http://www.dailycandy.com/all-cities/, for kid's activities in your city.

6. Bank of America's Museums on Us. If you have a Bank of America credit or check card, you can get free entry into many museums around the country. It only works on the first full weekend of every month, but it's definitely worth looking into. http://museums.bankofamerica.com/

5. Cook. What kid doesn't love to get messy in the kitchen and have a sweet treat afterwards? Pick a simple recipe - muffins, cookies, etc. - and cook together. I did this with my one-year-old last week and he ended up a floured mess, but we had so much fun. If your kids are old enough you could even try to get them to help with dinner!

6. Clean Together. This may sound crazy, but I've been amazed by how much my boys like cleaning, well using the cleaning tools anyway. You can make games out of it and hopefully instill an appreciation for keeping things tidy (haha).

7. Crafts for the Non-Crafty. I was so pleased when my child came home from preschool the other day with a craft. That's one reason why I send him - to get a chance to do things that I never think of doing with him. Here are some simple crafts that anyone can do! Finger paint, grab a paper bag and decorate with markers, cotton balls (bunny?), dried beans, cut pieces of gift wrap, ribbons, or whatever you have on hand. Grab various shaped objects - empty and rinsed out milk or oj cartons, toilet paper rolls, paper towel rolls, two paper plates stapled together, etc. and put dried beans in them to make musical instruments. Use foil and a rubber band to secure the ends of the rolls. Let the kids decorate them and then parade around the house.

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