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
- Put on wellies and splash in puddles together
- Float ducks, leaves and twigs on puddles
- Throw pebbles into puddles and see if they sink or float?
- Add food dye and/or bath bubbles into puddles
- Make a boat out of an old plastic container, add a straw for a mast, decorate, and set sail in a puddle
- Use old pots and pans to mix mud and make mud pies
- Put different objects over your head such as a saucepan, plastic tub or umbrella – how do they each make the rain sound different?
- Use buckets to collect the rain – how much has it rained today?
- Make an outdoor shelter by using sheets/tarpaulin and have an outdoor snack
Indoors
- Make your own ‘boat’ on the sofa using blankets, and play your own imaginary sailing game
- Get cosy by snuggling up together and reading some rain themed books, such as ‘Incy Wincy Spider’ and ‘Peppa Pig – The Rainbow’
- Lay a blanket out on the floor and enjoy an indoor picnic
- Sit at the window and watch the rain – how heavy is it raining? How wet is it making everything?
- Start up a conversation about what we need the rain for – to make plants grow, to keep the grass green etc