April Showers Bring May Flowers…

There is a handful of days until April is upon us, and because I live in the suburbs of Chicago, there is a pretty good chance it could still snow here. It’s such a tease when we get those first few nice weather days.

My kids have such cabin fever, they’re literally running and screaming through the halls of my house. I swear if I have to tell them to stop one more time my head is going to explode. I’m sitting here drumming up ideas to keep them occupied for the next few weeks, until we have some reasonably good weather and we’re able to enjoy the outside. I would like to hope I’m not alone. I’ve taken to Pinterest to get some ideas for keeping them entertained and I keep seeing these great ideas, but to be honest these ideas are a lot of work… for me. I have no problem with taking on the challenge of putting together indoor obstacle courses for my kids, but to be honest by time I get all the items that are needed for these wonderfully exciting ideas and set them up my kids are already over it… probably jumping on every couch cushion in the house and screaming at each other about some nonsense. Moral of the story I’m sweating profusely, I need a nap, I now have another mess to clean up, and my kids are still acting like monkeys in a zoo.

I like simple, and I’m going to keep this simple. There are thirty days in April and here are thirty rainy day activities (fingers crossed we don’t need thirty days of indoor activities) that seem to work well in my house.

1. Make Homemade Play dough , I recently started making my own play dough and I love it so much more than actual play doh, it’s easier to clean up, smells better, and lasts longer.
2. Make a couch fort
3. Hide & seek, my kids love this, and I actually end up laughing hysterically at these kids and their hiding places
4. Have a Tea party, use some animal crackers, make some tea (or water and a cup of coffee for yourself) it’s also a good way to subconsciously teach them some manners.. they won’t even know you’re trying to teach them anything 😉
5. Bake Chocolate Chip Cookies!! My kids love to help pour in all the ingredients and watch the cookies bake in the oven
6. Movie theatre at home – blankets, pajamas, popcorn, enough said!
7. Paint rocks, let the kids search for some rocks outside. Grab some washable finger paint. Let them paint them, and put them back outside… the rain washes the paint away, and you can do it all over another day!
8. Slime, I’ve seen recipes to make your own I found some in the Target dollar spot the kids love them and they keep them occupied
9. Plant some indoor plants, or start preparing flowers and vegetables for the season
10. Grab a pair of binoculars and do a nature watch, if you don’t have any binoculars you can check your local thrift store or do with out
11. Beans!! This is a favorite in my house, but you’ll want to stay close as I have left the room and come back to a bean catastrophe, I simply filled a plastics storage bin with dry pinto beans and the kids hide different items in the beans
12. Indoor Scavenger hunt
13. Jello Jigglers!! You can find some fun jiggler molds off of amazon
14. Indoor camping
15. Games- some favorites in our house include Hungry Hippo, Lets Go Fishin
16. Simon Says
17. Fun Stamps and fingerprint activities, my kids love the Melissa and Doug sets ( you can find them at Target, Kohl’s and home goods for decent prices)
18. Blow up a few Balloons, it’s so easy and they keep themselves entertained
19. Play dress up, I keep a bin full of all the kids Halloween costumes so they can always play dress up and then they’re getting more use then just Halloween
20. Magnet Board
21. Have a Teddy Bear Picnic, put down a blanket grab some snacks have the kids invite their finest stuffed animal friends
22. Puppet show
23. Play your favorite kid friendly playlist and have a dance party
24. We’re big Disney people, the kids love parades, the kids love watching the Disney parades on YouTube, I’ll stream them on the tv from time to time, the kids love seeing their favorite characters
25. Puzzles, these puzzles cost a dollar at dollar tree. I pick them up and give them as little rewards, they’re great for rainy days
26. Make individual homemade pizzas
27. Bubbles, I take a dollar store tablecloth and put it down on the floor to catch any bubbles.
28. Building Blocks, Lincoln Logs, Lego’s! Building contests, how tall can you stack them, etc
29. Wipe clean Workbooks
30. And Last But Not Least…. CHORES!! My kids love to Swifter the floor and clean the windows… if they think it’s fun, I’m not gonna tell them otherwise!

So Bring it on April… we’ll be ready for your false spring weather and rainy days 🖤