Rainy Day Activities.

My husband sent me these ideas from a website the other day when it was raining.  We ended up taping (with painter's tape) butcher paper to the floor and let the kids color away.  Thought I'd share this fun list with you...

1. Find the thimble (Hide the button) -  take turns hiding and finding the thimble or button

2. Kitchen Band - use only pots and pans to make music

3.  Arts and Crafts  -  Kids Craft Club

4. Make popcorn and watch a movie

5. Make an indoor fort using a blanket and a table or chair

6. Memory Game- put ten toys in a pillow case and see who can remember what's inside

7. See who can hop on one foot the longest

8. Musical chairs

9. Coloring

10. Build a huge castle out of blocks

11.  Clean your room or pick up all they toys

12.  Walk with a book on your head for 10 ft.

13.  Take the Math Quiz

14.  Have a tea party

15.  Guess what's in the bag - put object in a brown paper bag and take turns guessing the contents

16.   Read a book to your brother, sister, mother, dad, sitter....

17.  Make a racetrack with obstacles and drive your toy cars through it

18.  Have an indoor picnic

19. Draw food items on paper plates and color them

20.  Play a board game

21.   Run in place for 5 minutes

22.  Do 20 or more jumping jacks

23.  Touch you toes 25 times

24. Read a book

25.  Make homemade playdough (clay) and build something

26.  Make a glitter picture

27. Make paper dolls

28. Make cookies or cupcakes (get a adult to help)

29. Make a rain gauge

30.  Tell jokes

31.  Play kid safe online games

32.  Have a Congo line

33. Dance

34. Make forts or houses for your play solders or stuffed animals out of pillows and blankets

35.  Be a super hero, put on a cape made from a towel or blanket

36.  Sing- a-long to a CD, ipod  or the radio

37. Sing Row Row Row Your Boat,  and Are you Sleeping Brother John 5 items each

38. Draw a picture

39.  Pretend  you are an animal, make noise and walk like an animal, try being a monkey, elephant, horse, duck and ?

40. Find 10 things in your house that start with the letter  "P"

41.   Play penny hockey on a table

42.  Build a house out of cards

43.  Play Mother May I?

44. Play Simon Says

45. Put of a play about your favorite movie

46.  Make a paper chain

47.   Make paper airplanes

48.   Play geology games

49.  Play dress up

50.   Put together a puzzle

 

 Easiest Oatmeal Ever.



We're always rushed in the morning with 3 small kids...trying to get to the gym before preschool or other activities.  My kids loooove oatmeal so here are my tricks to making oatmeal (using old fashioned oats...not from the packets):

1.  Put oats and enough milk to cover them in a larger bowl (I use my bigger soup bowls...smaller bowls will boil over).  

2.  Heat in the microwave for 2 minutes.

3.  I can dish out oatmeal to two other bowls (one kid eats out of the bowl I used to microwave).

4.  The kids pick their toppings.  Some sweetners we've used:  agave nectar, bananas, raspberries, blueberries, brown sugar...they almost always ask for some peanut butter.  Nuts are yummy too.  I like to throw any fruit we have in the fridge in the mix.

5.  I put any leftovers in the fridge and the next day I add a little milk, heat it up, and they eat it again.

The kids get out the bowls and spoons so it takes no time to do this.  I have no problem making it even if only one kiddo wants it because it's so quick.

 A Suddenly Salad.

 


I feel like I get in the lunch rut and think something like a salad would take too long to prepare...to cut all the veggies.  So, this is what I came up with...I threw a bunch of bags and toppings on the table and let the kids fix their own salads.  They loved it.  Healthy and yummy.

Here's what I set out (basically grabbed what I had on hand):
bag of salad
box of goldfish (I took them out of the stocking bag)
bag of almonds
cut apples and left them on the cutting board
ricotta cheese bucket

I used Dr. Oz's dressing recipe:
5 T olive oil
5 T vinegar (I used balsamic)
5 t honey


I put the dressing in a little Tupperware to serve and then stir for later. 

 These were perfect little pieces for the little man to eat too. 

This salad was just as easy to but together as pb & j!