Play Date Ideas For Bad Weather Days
Staying in doesn’t have to be all about screens
When the weather outside is frightful, it’s tempting to hide inside and turn to movies or tech toys to wile away the hours. No need, though! Instead, invite a few friends over for a play date and a good time will be had by all, with just a little planning and organization.
Creative games
Video games and apps are all well and good but sometimes it’s nice to have different ages playing together, with a game that has nothing to do with a screen.
Game it old school — Get out the board games and get ready for a couple of hours of hilarious fun. Twister! Monopoly! Clue! Dominoes are a great way for younger kids to work on remembering their numbers and the older ones can be the banker in Monopoly (math skills, anyone?) Or break out the cards for a game of ‘Go Fish’.
Puzzles — This is a great time to break out the 1000 piece puzzle you bought at last year’s Christmas sale but never got around to putting together. Older kids can really get into something like this but make sure you set it up on a spot where it can stay for a while.
Crafts — Depending on their interests, anything from washable painting to creating decorations with water beads can be on the table. The key is to have a few things stashed away for just such an occasion, that are age appropriate and contain no glitter, because glitter is the devil and any parent who has had to remove it from furnishings will agree!
Low impact activities
Sometimes sitting at a table, playing a game is just too hard for little, wiggly bodies. They need to move and burn some of that pent up energy.
Have a dance party! — Set up a playlist of kid friendly, high energy tunes and blast them! Everybody has to show their best dance moves and when the music stops? Everybody has to freeze!
Balloon volleyball — The great things about batting a balloon back and forth is that it’s fun and even if the ball bops the wall or the furniture, there’s no harm done! Just make sure that you have an open enough space to play that the kids aren’t tripping over footstools and ottomans.
Treasure hunt — Keep a bag of dollar store trinkets hidden in the cupboard and break out a few of these items for an epic treasure hunt around the house. For the littles, they get to practice their reading skills and for everyone? It’s just plain fun.
Build an epic fort — Get every pillow and blanket you can find and start building!
Take it down a notch
When everyone’s had a great time jumping around to the latest tunes or building the most epic of epic forts with every pillow in the house, it might be time to get everyone to calm down and enjoy some quiet time.
A great way to initiate that is to let kids pretend it’s summer with an indoor picnic! Grab a picnic basket and have your lunch right on the rug as it’s easily washed. It’s even better if someone reads a book out loud while the kids are eating. They’re more likely to focus on the story and spend less time on tossing cookie crumbs on the floor. Of course, with Lorena Canals rugs, crumb tossing or milk spilling is less of an issue since crumbs and spills are an easy fix: just toss the rug in the washer and dryer and you’re done!
Dealing with cabin fever
Even the best little friends will at some point be hit with cabin fever. Tired of being indoors, they’ll start fighting with one another. It’s hard to manage feuding kids, particularly when one or more of them are not your own, but it’s your house, so manage it you must.
Diversion tactics are the best way to de-escalate a fight: if they can’t agree on a game, compromise with a third option. If they can’t play in the fort without getting too rough, remind them that it can just as easily be put away as it was taken out. And if all else fails, have a DVD on hand or a movie lined up to stream. Because at some point, you’re going to need YOUR downtime too!
Play dates are the ideal way to keep kids busy and having fun, no matter what Mother Nature is up to outside!
Provided by Lorena Canals all natural, eco friendly, non toxic machine washable rugs for every room in your home.
