Rain, rain go away
Jennifer Moonsong
Central Division, General Manager
Jobe Publishing, Inc.
Thus far, summer break has felt more like April in Seattle than the crisp, sunny Kentucky summer times of my youth.
The last week of school, me and my five year old sat down and made a lengthy to-do list for summer, filled with outdoor adventures. We included things like camping trips at Cumberland Falls, going to see the giants at Bernheim Forrest, long days at various water parks and trips to the zoo.
Needless to say, very few of those fun endeavors have been crossed off the list.
Occupying an imaginative five-year-old without the cooperation of Mother Nature and the constant presence of screen time has proved challenging, and I thought other parents might like to hear about the top 10 fun ways we’ve filled rainy days:
- Blanket Fort sleepovers complete with ghost stories and homemade kettle corn.
- Book store extravaganza! We took one day and went from book store to book store in Bowling Green.
- Making our own books. If your child likes to read, let them create their own books.
- Paint parties. Break out the paints and paper, pick a topic and let them paint alone or with friends.
- Kitchen fun. Let them be part of baking a favorite treat, from beginning to end.
- Build a toy. Cardboard boxes, old paper towel tubes, duct tape markers and a lot of imagination.
- Virtual destination. We have a globe, and my son is very fascinated by it. He sometimes asks questions about places on the globe. One day he pointed towards Hawaii. We used it as inspiration for Hawaiian day by reading about volcanos, making pineapple smoothies, learning about and eating Hawaiian food and looking at photos of Hawaii in the old encyclopedia set.
- Lego extravaganza. Get out every LEGO you own. Go wild.
- Indoor mystery. Create a mystery for them to solve with clues using things you have already.
- If all else fails, surrender and embrace the rain. On days when it was only raining and stormy, put on rubber boots and hats and play in the rain.
