Foul-Weather Fun Is Good for Your Kids
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Credit: June Admiraal, Unsplash
Your bigger, bolder outdoor play
In addition to these more scheduled activities, try some DIY free-play ideas. Don’t just make mud pies — make an entire mud kitchen. Build kitchen counters or islands with boxes; gather pots and pans; and even create a pizza oven and dining table for your budding top chef. Explore the space you have and cook up some fun. (Discover scads more ideas for mud play here and here.)
For variety, try these other impromptu ideas for exploring nature:
- Can’t beat the classics. Games like hide-and-seek and kickball never get old.
- Go on a treasure hunt. Create a scavenger hunt, with a prize of some delicious hot cocoa with marshmallows at the end of it. For great ideas on creating a backyard or neighborhood scavenger hunt, see here.
- Build an obstacle course. Use that discarded summer gear (pool noodles, anyone?) to create running hurdles or zigzags. Incorporate steps, hops and jumps as the terrain allows. Find more awesome ideas for obstacle courses here.
- Rediscover your backyard. From a DIY musical wall to a fairy garden, these terrific and super simple ideas can help you reimagine your kids’ outdoor play space.
- Jump in a leaf pile. It’s a great reward for helping clean up the yard.
- Write secret messages in the sand. Then let the nearby lake or ocean waves wash them away.
- Stay up to stargaze. Winter nights come early and provide clear skies for future stellar explorers to contemplate.
It doesn’t really matter how you get your children outdoors, only that you don’t let a little rain stop you. Whether a lot or a little, take time daily for you and your kids to soak up the sun, clouds, rain and fresh air. After all, it’s just what the doctor ordered.
