Cold and Rainy Day Activities

Rain, Rain, Go Away! Come Again Another Day! Unfortunately this rhyme rarely works, so you need to be prepared with activities that will keep your children happy, busy and active! Collect items in a "fun box" (an old cardboard box) for a rainy day and to also help with the activities below. Save empty toilet paper rolls, old pieces of fabric, ice cream containers, scrap paper, etc. When the rain comes again another day, you will have everything you need for creative play!

• Indoor Exercise Circuit: Assign a different type of activity to each room of the house. For example, walk up and down the stairs or march down the hall, push-ups in the living room, sit-ups in the bedroom, run around the outside of the house, the ideas are endless…as long as they are safe and FUN for your family.

• Go Skating: Using two pieces of 8 ½" x 11" paper, one for under each foot, stride forward and backward on a large carpeted or tiled area, as if you were skating. Have family skating races, create a skating circuit to follow, or make up a routine.

• Tobogganing: Sit close together as if you are riding a toboggan. Put your legs around the person in front of you. Move all together by pushing with the hands. When the team gets to the turning points, all jump up and run back to the finish line.

• Hot Ball: Divide into 2 teams with each team having its own side of the room. Using lightweight balls, bean bags or recycled pieces of paper scrunched into balls, throw the balls over to the other team’s side in a set period of time. The object is to have as many balls as possible in the other team’s area at the end of a set amount of time. The game can be played in three-minute quarters. Four quarters constitute a game.

• Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: Copy or mirror movements made by another person – stretching tall, tucking into a ball, making your body into wide shapes, etc.)

• Read a Story with Actions: Have kids pretend to be characters in a book and move to the story. Act out songs, stories, and poetry ("Danny O’Dare" from Falling Up by Shel Silverstein, 1976; "Shine, Shine, Shine" from If You Could Wear My Sneakers by Sheree Fitch.

• Play Blanket Gymnastics: Spread some blankets on the floor and tumble, roll, and balance.

• Obstacle Course: Build an obstacle course in the house by using boxes, chairs, pillows and other household items.

• Inside Games: Use soft indoor balls and play equipment and create games inside.

• Paper Airplanes: Make paper airplanes out of scrap paper. Have airplane flying contests or set up targets on the wall and try to improve your aim.

• Box Cars: To make a car, cut a hole in the bottom of a large box so that your child can step into the box and hold it around his/her waist. Decorate the outside of the car with paint, markers or crayon. Use plastic lids (from old ice cream or margarine containers) for the wheels and steering wheel. Add headlights, rear lights or a fancy fin. Your children can have car races in the basement or hallway.

• Indoor Hopscotch: Using masking tape, outline the boxes on the floor. Toss a small object such as an eraser on the hopscotch and skip the number that the object has fallen on. To increase the challenge, make the squares bigger, making the leap longer.

• Bowling: One of the top ten most favourite physical activities of Canadians can be enjoyed by children as young as 8 years old who can manage the lighter-weight balls. Make up a family team and challenge another family (See The Directory for a list of bowling facilities).

• Cold and/or rainy days offer a great opportunity to go on a family sightseeing excursion. Try visiting the Butterfly Conservatory in Niagara Falls on the Niagara Parkway. Telephone: (905) 358-0025 to check hours of operation and cost. For general information about museums, call the Tourist Information Centre.

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"Cold and Rainy Day Activities"
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