It’s yet another rainy fall afternoon and your child is restless to do something fun.
You can’t take them to the park to run around on the playground and you’d prefer they don’t sit on the couch watching cartoons all afternoon. You are sitting at home searching the web thinking “what else can I do to keep him or her occupied for a few hours?”
Our Children’s Librarians have tested hundreds of crafts and come up with five engaging activities to do indoors.
Here are five ideas that our Children’s Staff recommend:
Sensory Bins
Create a sensory bin for your child to explore. Put several themed items inside a plastic container. Try to find objects that allow your child to use all five of their senses. Once you have put all of the items in the bin, then your child is free to discover and learn about each the objects inside of the bin. Some themes include:
- Objects that are red
- Under the sea
- Holidays
- Different types of food
- Shapes and colors
Click to see more on this idea
Candy Sushi
Make an edible rainy day snack using different types of candy and sweets. Use the following items to make this delicious treat:
- Rice Krispies cereal and a can of vanilla frosting to make it sticky like sushi rice
- Fruit Roll-Ups and/or Fruit By the Foot to use as the seaweed
- Swedish Fish candies to use as the fish
- Various other candies such as Mike & Ikes or multi-colored Twizzlers Pull & Peel to represent the veggies in the sushi
- Red sugar sprinkles to use as the fish roe
Of course, you can use whatever candy or dessert items you want. Bon Appétit!
Click to see more on this idea from pysselbolaget.se
Alphabet Monster Game
Help your children learn the ABCs by making a game out of household materials! Write out the alphabet on pieces of paper. Decorate a canister with paper to look like a monster. Cut a little opening for the mouth. Quiz your children giving them the letter so they can search for the letter and place it inside the mouth of the monster. Sarah says she uses an empty diaper wipes container for this activity. “My kids loved decorating the monster and it’s a fun way to teach letter knowledge that kids ask for over and over again," she said.
Click to see more on this idea from littlefamilyfun.com
Shape Owls
Shape Owls are perfect for teaching your kids about shapes and colors. All you need for this easy craft is colored paper, scissors, and glue. Cut out different shapes with the colored paper and paste them onto a brown sheet of paper. Have your child tell you what the shape is as they are creating their owl. Once you have glued on the shapes, cut the brown paper to resemble an owl. Whooo knew this could be so fun?
Click to see more on this idea from tinyartroom.wordpress.com
Swimming with the Fishes
This is another craft that helps your child to be creative while learning about shapes and colors. Make a whole school of fish using bright colored paper plates and markers. Click on the link for quick and easy directions on how to make these super cute fish.
Click to see more on this idea from parentmap.com
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All of our best,
The Johnson County Public Library Children's Staff
Click here to see our Memo for Mom section on our website.
