When the weather is warm, it’s much easier to keep kids occupied. You can let them play in the garden, you can go to the park, g o on walks, bike rides and days out. When it starts getting windy and rainy and you have to head indoors things can get a little bit more difficult. If you don’t want to hear ‘I’m bored!’ repeated over and over again, it makes sense to have a few things up your sleeve when you’re stuck in on a rainy weekend. Here are some ideas.
Baking
Baking is cheap and cheerful, you only need a few simple ingredients to make things like tasty cakes and cookies. Baking teaches kids skills like precision and patience, and they can let their creative juices flow when it comes to the decorating. Have the pantry stocked with things like flour, sugar, eggs and butter. Purchase a piping bag and some nozzles and some cookie cutters, you can find them on ebay and in hobby shops really cheaply. If you want to simplify things further you could use box mixes which just require adding an egg and water, or you could buy pre made cakes and make the task all about the decorating.
Movie/ game days
As parents we don’t want our kids to be a slave to their screens, but when it’s cold outside and you just want a cosy day where they’re going to be occupied then games and movies can be the perfect solution. Maybe you could sit and join them and relax together or perhaps you could get on with some housework or other tasks around the home while they’re not under your feet!
Crafts
Crafting is loads of fun for kids and adults alike. Get yourself some glue guns for arts and crafts and some crafting materials like sequins, glitter, pipe cleaners and feathers and let the kids get creative. If you want a bit more direction to your crafting you could always find a project on Pinterest and follow along to it. Both Halloween and Christmas are coming up so perfect for thinking about some seasonal crafts.
Sleepovers
If you’re feeling brave then how about letting your kids invite some friends over? You could order some pizzas, set out some games, magazines and other activities for them to do based on their age and preferences. Some kids might enjoy computer games and others could have fun painting each others nails and doing face masks. If you have friends with children around the same age then it’s something you could set up. And best of all, next time around they could invite your kids to a sleepover which would give you the night off!
What sorts of things do you do to keep your kids busy over the colder months?
