Saturday, April 23, 2011

Rainy Day Fun

Article originally posted on EdHat 1/23/10

By Mike Shinn

Rain has come to Santa Barbara! The short time that Santa Barbara experiences a downpour per year offers us the opportunity for rainy day fun. I have fond memories of playing War, using partial card decks with my brother. It was anything my mom could do to keep us busy. Now that I have a child of my own, I'm doing my best to take advantage of the weather. Below are a handful of activities that my daughter has enjoyed:

Hide and Seek: this is a big game in our house. Sometimes my daughter hides alone, but typically she will enlist me, my wife, or even one of the pets!

Combine Toys: There's no better time to bring new life to your toys than when you are stuck inside. My daughter wanted to build a castle for her monkey finger puppets.

Forts: A blanket and cushion fort is fun any time, but especially fun on dark and cloudy days

Bake: Not just for Christmas, baking is fun any time! Recently I discovered a new recipe for edible clay: 1 cup peanut butter, 1 cup powdered sugar and 3 tablespoons of honey. This clay is fun to make and fun to play with - eat along the way or after you're done! This recipe beats the salty homemade play dough that we were given as kids.

Rain Play: Take advantage of the rain and enjoy it while it's still coming down! My daughter had a blast running around, stomping in puddles and getting full use of her rain clothes. We followed it up with a nice bath and warm food - the perfect activity on a rainy day.

Being a parent isn't often easy, but being prepared with potential entertainment ideas can make it a little easier. Santa Barbara provides its residents with such a wide assortment of outdoor activities, it becomes easy to lose sight of the fun that we can have at home!