Bad weather can make it challenging to keep active kids engaged and entertained indoors. However, with some creativity and planning, parents and foster carers can find many stimulating activities to do with children when it’s too wet or cold to play outside. This article will provide tips and ideas to keep youngsters occupied and burn off energy on rainy or snowy days.
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Get Moving with Indoor Exercise
Bad weather is no excuse not to get some physical activity! Clear some space and have an indoor dance party. Put on the kids’ favourite music and let them boogie down. Play freeze dance by periodically stopping the music and freezing in silly positions. Or play follow the leader and take turns making up fun dance moves.
Set up an indoor obstacle course using furniture, pillows, blankets etc. Time them racing through the course or make it a relay race between teams. Bring out child-friendly exercise equipment like soft indoor balls, a mini trampoline, or a foam mat play tunnel. And don’t forget classic games like Simon Says and What’s the Time Mr Wolf to get them moving between activities.
Engage Their Brains with Games and Activities
Keep minds stimulated by bringing out board games, card games, puzzles, and building toys like blocks or Lego. Bust out arts and craft supplies for DIY projects like making paper airplanes, sock puppets, or picture frames to decorate. Building blanket and pillow forts together also keeps kids creatively engaged. Foster carers can use some of their allowance from their agency, such as Fostering People, to cover the cost of indoor activities.
For younger kids, use sensory bins filled with dry pasta, rice, or beans to dig around in and engage their senses. Bring out the play dough and let them mould their own creations. Or shape it into letters and numbers to make learning fun. Use indoor chalk or water-filled paintbrushes to doodle on windows, mirrors, or bath walls. The options are endless!
Take Learning Outside the Box
Don’t forget educational opportunities during downtime. Let the children pick a topic they’re interested in and research together on the internet. Watch documentaries about nature, science, history, or anything that fascinates them. Visit virtual museums and zoos online for an enriched learning experience.
Get cooking together by baking treats and preparing healthy meals and snacks. Kids can practice maths and measuring skills while also unleashing their inner chef. Or try simple science experiments like making slime or lava lamps using household ingredients. Keep them guessing and learning with brain teasers like “I Spy” and guessing games.
Don’t Forget Older Kids and Teens
Tweens and teens need engagement too without feeling “baby-ish”. Include them in activities suitable for their ages like making food or playing advanced board/video games together. Craft activities like jewellery or candle making suit older kids who may reject childhood arts and crafts. Allow supervised social media use to stay connected with friends. Provide self-directed projects like starting a blog or YouTube channel on a hobby.
Empower and include older kids in family decisions during bad weather like meal planning, activity scheduling, and household projects. Respect their need for independence while keeping them constructively busy.
With a little innovation and flexibility, parents and carers can turn rainy and snowy days stuck inside into opportunities for enrichment, creativity, and family bonding! Don’t let bad weather dampen active kids’ spirits.
