Things to do on a rainy day!
Children learn best when they experience things first hand and get to actually ‘have a go’. Experiencing jumping in puddles, raindrops on their head, snow on their fingers, and sand in their toes builds a child’s imagination.
Having a good imagination helps a child in later years when they are ready to write stories, retell stories and during creative activities such as painting and solving problems.
Top tips:
Outdoors
- Play splashing games: put on wellies and see how many puddles you can splash in together
- Float objects: float ducks, leaves and twigs in puddles
- Play ‘sink or float’: throw pebbles into puddles and see if they sink or float?
- Get experimenting: add food dye and/or bath bubbles into puddles
- Get creative: make a boat out of an old plastic container, add a straw for a mast, decorate, and set sail in a puddle
- Make mud pies: use old pots and pans to mix the mud
- Play with sounds: put different objects over your head such as a saucepan, plastic tub or umbrella – how do they each make the rain sound different?
- Collect the rain: use buckets to collect it and see how much it has rained
- Make an outdoor shelter: use sheets/tarpaulin and have an outdoor snack
Indoors
- Get imaginative: make your own ‘boat’ on the sofa using blankets, and play your own made up sailing game
- Get cosy: snuggle up together and read some rain themed books, such as ‘Incy Wincy Spider’ and ‘Peppa Pig – The Rainbow’
- Have an indoor picnic: lay a blanket out on the floor and enjoy a picnic as you normally would outside
- Spark conversation: sit at the window together and watch the rain – how heavy is it raining? How wet is it making everything? What do we need the rain for?
