Tag Archives: rainy day activities

Rainy April days just got a little better

We’ve all heard the saying April showers bring May flowers, but while we wait patiently for those spring blooms to brighten the landscape we still have to deal with some dreary rainy days in April.

So what should one do while standing by for better weather to enjoy the great outdoors? Well, we could give typical ideas like baking chocolate chip cookies or having a movie marathon, but we’d like to give you some inspiration instead. Are there things you have been putting off, or have always wanted to do but never found the time? Take advantage of the inclement April weather to tackle those things that aren’t in your normal routine. We’ve got some great ideas that we have on our to-do/wanna-do list that might help push you in the right direction.

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Organize family photo albums. Most of us still have boxes of pictures stashed away from times past. Before the days of mobile devices, Instagram, and digital picture frames, we used cameras and film to capture life events. Even with all the amazing technological advances, there truly is nothing better and being able to flip through a real photo album full of precious memories. Here’s your chance to get everything together, organize your pictures, and put together a family keepsake that you can pass down to future generations.

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Make old connections. How many times have you thought “I should reach out to this person”, or “I haven’t spoken to this person in ages?” A rainy day is the perfect time to make those connections. Whether you reach out through social media, a phone call, email, or sit down and write an old-fashioned letter, it’s great to catch up with the people you don’t speak to regularly or should speak to more often. You never know whose day you’ll make with a simple “hello.

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Learn something new. If you’ve always wanted to learn a second language or become better at something technology-wise, rainy days cooped up in the house are the perfect opportunity to do just that. You can find anything online. From courses to how-to videos, it’s out there. Want to learn how to make candles or play an instrument? There is a world of information at your fingertips. You just have to look for it.

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Stay in bed all day. This may not seem like a productive suggestion but, a solid day of rest can make a world of difference in your attitude, stress level, emotions, and overall well-being. Of course you don’t have to sleep all day. You can read, watch TV, or just lay there and listen to raindrops hit the roof all while in your favorite comfy pajamas. These are our Rainy Day favorites.

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If you love a loud thunderstorm there’s no better place to hear the rumbles than snuggled up in bed.

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Rearrange your furniture. Maybe you’ve been thinking for quite some time that the couch would look better on the other side of the room or that the dresser just doesn’t look good in the space that it’s in. Now’s your chance to experiment. What’s the worst that could happen? You put it back the way it was.

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Organize family recipes. If you’ve got recipes that have been handed down through the generations, organizing them in a well-thought-out way will assure that your favorite meals will be prepared for years to come. Whether you use a recipe box, recipe book, or even some form of digital method, you’ll rest easier knowing that grandma’s famous apple pie recipe won’t be lost.

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Make bagels. You bake cookies, cakes, and pies all the time but have you ever made your own bagels? Maybe you’ve thought about it but changed your mind when you found out how much time was involved. We found an answer! This delicious 3 ingredient bagel recipe is a great way to start what could possibly be your new favorite baking routine.

Here at The Pajama Company, we love a rainy day as a day with lots of possibilities! Do you love rainy days? Share your rainy day favorite things on our facebook page.

Rainy Day Craft Ideas for Kids

April Showers: Simple Rainy Day Crafts for Kids

April showers bring… cold, rainy weekends with the whole family stuck indoors! Make the most of a rainy spring day with easy crafts you can do with the kids. Don’t have a PhD in Pinterest? No worries. These are truly simple craft ideas that everyone will enjoy. So easy, you can stay in your pajama pants all weekend. These craft ideas only require items you can find in your house or at your local dollar store. No gold leaf paint required.

Rainy day pajama day!

These Kids FlapJack Pajamas from Lazy One are perfect for rainy day fun!

11 Easy Rainy Day Crafts for Kids

Rainy Day Finger Puppets

1. Marker Top Finger Puppets. We’re willing to guess you have a dried up marker or two (or thirty?) hiding around the house. Use the caps and materials like construction paper, yarn, twine, or pipe cleaners to make these fun finger puppets featured on The Handmade Adventures of Captain Crafty.

Rainy Day Marble Paint Project

2. Marble Painting. We love this one from The Mother Huddle! It’s finger painting with a twist. Squirt a little paint on top of  a sheet of paper inside a baking pan. Drop a marble or small ball inside and let your kiddo twist and turn the pan to roll the ball through the paint and create one-of-a-kind works of art! This craft combines getting messy with the added bonus of a noisy marble rattling around a baking pan — sure to be a hit!

Rainy Day Puppet Theater Project

3. Rainy Day Puppet Theater. Maybe combine this idea with the ‘Marker Top Finger Puppets’? A rainy day is perfect for a day at the theater, especially if your kids construct it from this cool template that you can run off your printer! Using only a cracker or cereal box, paper, scissors, glue or tape, and some popsicle sticks or skewers — your kids can quickly create their own puppet theater with this craft from BKids.

Rainy Day Paper Lantern Craft

4. Tracing Paper Lanterns. Using translucent tracing paper and watercolors or markers, have your kids create pictures and tape or glue them to old glass jars. Pop a tealight inside and you have mood lighting for dinner, courtesy of your children. The original project idea from Mamascout is a bit more involved if you want to get fancy!

Rainy Day Fun Googly Eyes

5. Eye-Bombing. Another idea we’re in love with! Using a pack of stick-on googly eyes, “eye bomb” common objects in your house to turn them into a source of silliness! This craft would be even funnier if another parent or older sibling were to come home to discover the random peepers! A big belly laugh courtesy of MiniEco.

Rainy Day Egg Carton Craft

6. Egg Carton Bouquet. The kids with love creating a new springtime centerpiece for your kitchen table. This fun upcycled craft idea comes from Better Homes & Gardens. Simply cut up an egg carton, paint each of the “egg holders,” and twist together pipe cleaners to make stems.

Rainy Day Marble Run Craft

7. Cereal Box Marble Run. This super simple marble track from Made by Joel uses only a cereal box, scissors, and glue to create hours (okay… maybe 40 minutes?) of fun for your little one. You can encourage your kiddos to get more creative and paint or color the box, add stickers, glitter — go wild!

Rainy Day Fish Craft Project

8. Fishy Fun. Have paper plates laying around the house? Create these fun, Pac-Man inspired fish from Made Everyday with scissors, construction paper, and whatever else you have on hand. This is craft is especially fun considering the recent popularity of book The Pout Pout Fish. It could be a great project after story time!

Rainy Day Brushless Painting Activity

9. Brushless Painting Station. Kids love getting messy. A surefire way to keep them busy for hours is to encourage some messy play. NurtureStore suggests a “brushless” painting station. Using utensils, leaves, twigs, cotton balls, sponges, cookie cutters… let your kids paint with anything but a brush! This craft is guaranteed to grant you a couple hours of silence.

Rainy Day Memory Game

10. Memory Game. This is a simple old school rainy day activity that will definitely pass some time! Curly Birdssuggests putting a handful of objects on a tray — all the same color — and have the kids stare at it for a few minutes to memorize what they see. Cover the tray with a cloth and take one object away and have them guess which one is missing. This is not only great for memory, it’s a wonderful way to help them build their language skills!

Pop Up Zoo Rainy Day Craft

11. Pop-Up Zoo. This pop-up zoo craft idea from Tinker Lab will keep your children amused for the whole afternoon! Have them create the animals they know and recognize and then invent new ones for some whacky imaginative fun!

For more ideas for springtime family fun, visit The Pajama Company at our blog, thepajamacompany.com/blog.

Rainy Day Weekend

by Amanda Palmer, The Pajama Company Editor

I love the rain, the sound of it hitting the windows or roof and the distant sound of thunder. It’s wonderful sound makes for a nice sleepy weekend.

Not everyone in my house likes the rain. My kids rather be outside playing so when we have weekends like this I think about all the fun inside things they can do. I call it Palmer Family Fun Day!

I made a great list of Rainy Day Activities you can do and I also have a fun recipe that you can either make as a dessert or lunch depending on the ingredients you use.

1.  Board Games – Nothing like pulling out board games and playing all your family favorites.

2.  Scavenger Hunt –  As mentioned in White Valentine’s Day & President’s Day Weekend you can use this scavenger hunt for days like these as well.

3.  Sock Puppet Theater –  Make your own puppets with socks you cannot find the mate to and then have a puppet show. There are so many different items you can glue on to a sock to make it look like any animal or character you choose. I also keep a kit of googly eyes, pipe cleaners and bits of yarn and fabric on hand for days like these.

4.  Peanut Butter/Chocolate Hazelnut Spread Modeling Clay – Yes this is the modeling clay kids can eat. All you have to do is mix 1 cup of Peanut butter/chocolate hazelnut spread, 2 cups confectioners sugar, 1/2 cup of honey and you have edible modeling clay. Of course you can portion it and color it for even more fun.

5.  Magazine Collage – This is a great fun way to recycle your old magazines. Give the kids a pair of scissors, a piece of construction paper, a little glue and a topic like (show me the things you like to do on a sunny day) and let the imagination go.

6.  Blanket and Pillow Fort – Take blankets and pillows and use coffee tables and chairs to make an ultra cool fort. I love doing this one and then “camping out” in the living room while we watch a movie. This is a good one to get the little ones settled down to take a nap.

7.  Dance Party – Play music and dance with your kids, this is fun to watch the little ones move to the music in their own special way.

8.  Sock “Snowball” Fight – This one my mother started with us. Pair some socks (the kids can help) and then simply have a snowball fight with the socks.

9. Decorate Shower Curtain – Purchase a clear/white shower curtain and permanent markers and let the kids design thier own shower curtain.

10. Read & Draw –  Read a story and then give the kids markers and paper and have them draw a unique ending to the story they just heard.

There you have it, 10 fun and interesting things to do so the kids won’t say the dreaded words “I’m bored”!

There is one more thing I am going to give you to do with your kids and that is cook. Nothing better than some comfort food on a rainy day. The best part this is a semi homemade recipe and depending on the ingredients you choose it can be sweet or savory…or you can do both and have real fun!

Pull Apart Pizza or Cinnamon Bread (You decide)

2 cans of refrigerated biscuit dough

1 Jar Pizza Sauce

2 cups of Mozzarella Cheese

1 cup Parmesan Cheese

1 package of Pepperoni

1 tablespoon olive oil or cooking spray

Or…

2 cans of refrigerated Biscuit Dough

1/2 cup  granulated Sugar

1 teaspoon ground Cinnamon

1 cup Brown Sugar

3/4 cup melted Butter

Oil Bundt pan with oil or cooking spray and layer ingredients well, cook in 325 degree oven for 47 -52 minutes or until golden brown and not doughy any longer.

I hope I have given you a good list of things to do with your children on a rainy pajama day. The best part is you can do this on days that aren’t rainy and make every day a….