If you're a toddler mama, you already know one of the worst things that can happen is a rain forecast. It means you're stuck inside a prison [i.e. your home] all day with your little wild child[ren] and suddenly the daytime hours seem reeeealllll long...especially if your kiddo is an outdoor child like my little man.
Due to the fact that most of our days everyday are spent outside, coming up with a list of backup indoor activities has been essential for inclement weather days. Here are some of the things I highly suggest if you have access...
Activities that will get you out of the house, but keep you indoors during inclement weather:
...The Little Gym [or something similar]. Axel participates in classes here weekly. They have "practice hours" for varying age groups that you can frequent whenever, which is so nice during a rainy week. It gives you multiple opportunities to go there outside of your regularly scheduled class.
...Music Together. This is a nationwide music program. Axel participates in this class once a week and absolutely loves it. They design an exclusive music curriculum for their program with songs/dances/games/instrument play etc. They cater to a wide variety of ages and depending on where you live, there are several location and time options.
...Mommy and Me. Axel and I participate in a mommy and me program at a local synagogue. It's basically mini preschool. He has an adorable little classroom with such a sweet teacher who has a weekly activity/theme prepared for his Wednesday class. It's a great way to have structured, but interactive play indoors for 90 minutes a week.
...BusyBees [or something similar]. This is basically one of those indoor play areas that kids are obsessed with and parents hate :). Axel has only been once because we discovered he is just a bit too young for it to be totally safe and not stressful, but for anyone who has a child 2 and older it's a perfect indoor activity where your kids can get out tons of energy and you can watch from the sidelines.
...Barnes and Noble Story Time. This is offered at most B&N locations. It's a 30-45 minute timeframe where one of the staff reads a book aloud to the kids followed by an interactive activity. We are frequent fliers during rainy days because Barnes and Noble kids section near us also has a train track inside where kids can play.
Activities you can do at home during inclement weather:
...Magna tile towers. My son is a huge fan of "helping" me build magna tile towers and then of course knocking them down. Honestly these are so much fun to play with that I encourage it just so I can build the tower for myself.
...Forts. You would not believe how entertaining stringing a blanket across two chairs can be for a toddler...this has kept him busy for like 20 minutes straight, which if you know toddlers is a tremendous amount of time for their gnat like attention spans :)
...Let's play empty the contents of the drawer and put it all back in. Axel, like most toddlers, is OBSESSED with opening any cabinet or drawer he can find and emptying every single item out so he can put it all back in. Because of this, we have our kitchen heavily baby proofed with all the cabinets and drawers locked. Since I don't want to be a total fun sucker, I leave one bottom drawer and one bottom cabinet unlocked with things he can freely take in and out of "his drawers." The cabinet has all of his sippy cups/bowls/bibs/snack tupperware and the drawer has some baking pans/baking trays/misc tupperware. All of these items can be safely taken out and put back in while I sit there an get two full sips of my coffee before it's go time again
...If you don't already have a kitchen set for your kiddo, I highly suggest getting one! This is a very worthwhile investment that will last for several stages of play and the kids freaking love it. I don't know what it is about giving them a mini pot and pan to "cook you lunch," but Axel freaking loves it. I ask him to make me coffee and he gets the coffee cup, puts it under the fake coffee maker and serves it to me all proud with his accomplishment. There are so many accessories you can get for the kitchen sets, which extend play time! We have a "Step 2" kitchen at my mom's that he loves and then at our house we have a Hape. They're both great quality, but the Hape kitchen was MUCH easier to assemble.
...Sing alongs. Yep, I said it people. Don't drive yourself into a stroke. My kid is in fact allowed to watch TV during certain times and under circumstances.
Believe it or not, watching a little TV every now and then will not cause him to spontaneously combust. When it's a rainy day or we are in a situation where I need to have him settled for a period of time, our go to shows are Sophie La Giraffe [Hulu], Songs and Rhymes [Hulu], and Little Baby Bum [Hulu and Amazon Prime]. This will keep his attention for about 15 -20 minutes before he is done.
Disclaimer: if you're now thinking about reporting me to the TV police for letting my toddler watch, just know I keep the subtitles on, so it's basically a reading lesson. You're welcome.
What do you like to do with your kiddo when the great outdoors are not an option?
What excellent advise!! I wish I had you before I got pregnant!! You almost make me want to do it again.