by Betty Jo Hawkins

Created on: April 22, 2009

After being inside all winter on those extremely cold days, everyone is excited to see spring arrive. We get a taste of a few warm wonderful days. Then it happens, the rain begins. So we start out our day looking out the window and singing the" rain, rain go away come back some other day so I can go out and play song". It seldom ever works to our advantages but we sing it anyway.

Some of our favorite past time for indoor fun is we put up the inflatable bounce room in our basement and have fun jumping. When we are tired of jumping we have a tea party with the princess tea set and cookies to compliment the tea. We often get out our favorite book to read. I read it first then I have her read it to me. She just turned tree. It is funny to hear her version of the story, mostly from memory or based on the pictures. Games do not have to be store bought you can make them up as you go they can be some of the best and are free. Young children are much easier to entertain than older ones. We often color, paint and practice writing and flash cards this is not only easy to make fun for your child but is also educational.

Rainy days are also the best to do some baking, how about having fun making their favorite cake, cookies or brownies. This can be fun and provide your family with a nice treat before bed time. Let them help, it may take longer but they will enjoy being such a big helper. Arts and crafts are also fun to do on rainy days. How about sowing some seeds and watching them grow. Once the weather is warm and the plants have gotten bigger than you can have fun planting them outside.

It is important to not only play with electronic games but it is important to make do without modern amenities. What do you do if there is a storm and you lose your electricity for hours at a time? You have to teach your children to use their imagination, teach them to have fun without having expensive games and toys all the time. Sit around and tell stories. Act like different animals, play hide and seek. Older children should be encouraged to read and relax a little on rainy days. Teaching our children to be creative and think outside the box to have fun will only make them strong individuals. Children also need to learn to be able to entertain themselves without using expensive electronics. Reading books and relaxing on rainy days is a way to pass the time. It may not work well for really young children but older children should take advantage of that time.

Some of my best memories as a child were simple times in my life with my mother, she taught me lots of arts and crafts. I have no trouble finding things to do on a rainy day. Relax and be creative and just have fun.

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