We hope you’ve enjoyed the gorgeous early Autumn weather. In preparation for the return the more wintery late Autumn, we’ve got together with our friends at MyKidsTime.ie and compiled a list of 10 fun things to do outdoors on a rainy day. We hope you like it.
- Go on a nature hunt. Make it interesting by setting a challenge, for example – how many snails can you find in 10 minutes? Count the number of earth worms you come across. Look out for any interesting stones or leaves. And when you get back inside you can use the leaves and twigs to make a lovely nature collage.
- Splash in as many puddles as you can find. This is great fun for pre-schoolers to let off a bit of steam as well as encouraging them to count by checking how many puddles they found to jump in. Tip – just make sure their waterproof trousers or dungarees are outside their wellies to help keep feet dry!
- Head to a nearby beach and build stone castles by piling up flat stones and see who can build the highest castle. Maybe try creating a sea monster in the sand – draw a huge outline of a face and body and decorate with stones and shells to make eyes and shirt buttons with seaweed for hair.
- Visit the woods for a walk and use the trees as giant umbrellas. See if you can spot any birds or squirrels in the trees, or look under the trees for animal burrows and mushrooms (remember to avoid picking mushrooms though unless you are an expert).
- Go out and measure how high a tree is (method here) and if there are any fallen down trees guess their age and then count the numbers of rings to see if you are right.
- See how many songs about the rain that you can think of. Take it in turn to yodel or sing them out loud (e.g. “Singing in the Rain”, “Raindrops keep falling”) as you splash through the puddles.
- Take a ball out into the garden or the nearest park and have a game of “Soggy Soccer” or “Drizzly Donkey”
- Find as many sticks as you can and take it in turns to make an arrow trail with the stick for everyone else to follow. Put in some loop de loops to make the trail more interesting.
- Make a ground level ‘tree house’ in the woods. Find a big tree with a strong low branch then collect lots of broken branches and ferns. Lean the broken branches and ferns in layers across the branch to make a mini-house under the tree.
- Make mud pies! Find a suitable spot in the garden where the kids can dig to their hearts content and using buckets and spades make some delicious mud pies. Tip – get the hot water on for a warm bubble bath afterwards!
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