Top Ten Tuesday: Rainy Day Fun

I actually love rainy days...as long as I don't need to go outside! I am mostly a 'homebody' anyway, so I prefer to be in the comforts of my own home except for the occasional itch to get out, especially if the kids are getting to rowdy for me inside! On Guam, we have 2 seasons, dry and rainy. I am not sure when the exact months outline each season, but right now and most of the end half of the year, it is wet! It makes it feel almost like fall to me if I stay inside and turn the AC down to a cool temperature and wear cozy socks on my feet. Of course as much as I would like to spend those days curled up in a blanket with a good book, the kids require other entertainment. So here is some rainy (or not so rainy) day fun:

1. Curl up with the kids and read to them. I enjoy finding a book that I can connect to some fun craft as well.

2. Bake cookies! My daughter loves to help by pouring ingredients in and mixing. And then of course her favorite part is helping to gobble them all up afterwards!! We even have an apron just for her.

3. Have an indoors picnic! I actually use an inexpensive vinyl tablecloth as a splat mat under my son's high chair, so I would just clean that off a little, lay it out in the middle of the living room and eat our lunch on the floor. I open the blinds too, so we feel like we are outside more, but we still stay dry!

4. We go to our local Aquarium, where we have a membership (so its free for us to go often)! Its called Underwater World, and most of it is this long tunnel of plexiglass, so you are actually walking through the huge tanks with all the fish, sharks, and sea turtles. I count this as a rainy day activity because we don't get wet, our parking garage at home is covered, and so it the one at Underwater World! So if I happen to have the car (one car family here), this is a good activity if we really need to get out, but don't want to drown in the downpour- seriously it can rain super hard here, but its still really warm and muggy so you don't really want to wear a raincoat to shield you, and with 2 young kids, the umbrella is hard to figure out and you only get wetter in the process!!

5. Movie time! I love movies and have a huge collection of children's and adult's movies. And we try to make it an event, with popcorn, and fruit smoothies, lights dimmed, and everyone cuddling on the couch (or in the bed, my daughter likes watching them in our room). Zachary is still too young for this though, so we save it for his nap time.

6. Creative crafts. I have a huge bin of craft materials I bought in the states for times just such as these! Some are kits, some are just random odds and ends to be really creative with. Though I am still working on just getting Zachary to figure out coloring and NOT eating the crayon!

7. Music video making. I love to sing, my daughter loves to sing, and my son...well he likes to make noise! So what could be better then pulling out any noise making toys or just pots and pans for him to bang on as Natalie and I belt out some tunes! Or sometimes we just put on some music and dance around! (Our favorites are songs by the Imagination Movers, its hard not to catch on to their fun and educational music!)

8. Build a fort. Oh how I LOVED building forts when I was a kid! I don't know a kid that doesn't like this, even Zachary gets pretty excited about it- then proceeds to accidentally pull it all down. But the beauty is, its never to difficult to rebuild, all you need are sheets or lightweight blankets, and chairs or other tall furniture and usually some weights to hold the sheet in place help too (think books or magazines, nothing breakable)!

9. Get dressed up! This one is a girl's all time favorite, but most young boys will join in for the fun as well! Zachary likes to try my shoes on and wear hats sometimes (just so he can pull them off and laugh as I put it right back on!). One day I hope to have more general neutral stuff for him too, like doctor outfit, police/fire man, train conductor, that sort of thing. For now its mostly dresses and necklaces and fairy wings for my daughter!

10. Go out in the rain...unless your children are made out of sugar and will melt (my daughter seems to think she is sometimes). Bundle up (assuming you aren't on Guam) the kids in their rain gear and let them go out and make mud pies, splash in a few puddles, and enjoy another day God has given us. The best thing about kids is that they are completely washable!! I do recommend dry warm clothes as soon as they are inside though- we don't want anyone to catch a cold after all!

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