We all have busy schedules at work which keeps us away from our families. Therefore, we don’t spend enough time together, just being a family and enjoying each other’s company. The weekend is supposed to be a time to catch up. However, with everything else going on in your life, planning activities for kids this weekend can be difficult.
Games for a Rainy Weekend Day
You planned all weekend for a fun day at the lake; however, when you open the drapes, to your families dismay it is raining! So what do you do? We have come up with some fun indoor activities that will get your kids excited about staying indoors.
1. Play a Game Indoor Golf
You don’t need to be a carpenter to create this easy DIY indoor game. Why not make a simple game of indoor golf.
What you need:
- A medium-sized cardboard box
- Some mini-golf clubs (or croquet clubs will work)
- Some small gardening flags
- Golf balls
How to set up the game:
Step 1: Turn the box upside down and cut out some entrance holes of various sizes.
Step 2: Cut out a higher point for slimmer openings and low points for the larger openings.
Step 3: Randomly place the gardening flags in areas around the room to give it a “golf course” atmosphere.
Step 4: Get the family together and have fun!
Note: If you don’t have any golf clubs, you should be able to find some at the local thrift shop. Pick up some flags in the gardening section of your local WalMart as well as a set of golf balls.
2. Bean Bag Toss
The game of Bean Bag Toss is so much fun your kids will forget they are cooped up in the house all weekend! It is so easy (and cheap) to make this game too.
You are going to need the following supplies:
- A big bag of dry beans
- 3 Sandwich-sized zip-lock baggies
- 3 small sand buckets
Step 1: Portion the bag of beans into the three zip-lock baggies.
Step 2: Spread out the buckets at varied distances.
Step 3: Line up the kids and give them each a shot at tossing the bean bags into the buckets.
Objective of the game:
Line the buckets up and give each child a chance to toss the bean bags in them. You can offer prizes (candy or cookies) to the one who gets the most “buckets”.
3. Make some Colored Rice for Sensory Games
Kids love sensory games, especially rice. Running their fingers through the brilliant colors of the tiny grains of rice will give your child hours of entertainment. Here is a simple recipe for making some dyed rice (sans any alcohol). You can even let the kids help out for some extra fun on a rainy day.
What you’re gonna need:
- A bag of cheap rice (long-grain)*
- White- distilled vinegar*
- Several favorite food colorings
- A few plastic containers with snap-on lids.
*Most recipes call for rubbing alcohol as the setting agent for the food coloring. However, since this is a kid’s sensory game, we are using vinegar; a more kid-friend option.
Your colored rice will be rather brilliant in color using the white vinegar. It will ensure no color runs onto their hands. You can even let them play with it while it is drying! Your colored rice will be re-usable as well, store it away in the storage container for many more rainy days of sensory fun!
Let’s Make Some Dyed-Colorful Rice:
- Measure out 1 cup of rice
- ½ teaspoon of vinegar
- Several bottles of food color
You have several options of containers to use. One option is several small sandwich baggies with zip-locks. The other super thrifty choice is to save some empty butter containers for projects like this one.
The next step to color the rice takes about five minutes.
- Drop several drops of the food coloring into the container of choice.
- Now put the measured rice in the container.
- Add the vinegar.
- Put the lid on the container (or zip the baggie)
- Give it to one of the kids to shake it like crazy!
- Repeat steps 1-5 until you have several colors of colored rice.
- Empty each of the containers of colored rice out onto a baking sheet or large plate.
- Set it out in the sun–or in front of a fireplace for quick-drying.
*You can use any number of dried food items in your pantry: lentils, popcorn, dried peas, or pasta also work great.
Games to Play Outside
Nothing spells fun on the weekend like a beautiful, warm sunny day! Remember the days when you were a kid? The options seemed endless for games to play. What we didn’t know is that it took a lot of ingenious ideas from our parents to make it happen. Now that you are the parent, use some of that inherited ingenuity to create some old-school favorites for your kids to play!
4. Kick the can
This is an old-school favorite that your kids can play that takes very little prep work. All you need is two to four kids, an empty can, and a whole lot of energy!
Step 1: Choose who is going to be designated as the “it” person.
Step 2: The “it” child will count to one-hundred and kick the empty can around as the other kids find hiding spots.
Step 3: Once they reach 100– they shout out “Here I come, ready or not!” They run around searching for each hiding child.
Step 4: When they find someone’s hiding spot, they shout out the person’s name. Both race towards the can to see who can kick it first.
This continues until the last child is found. The end of the game is when one of the hiders is successful at being the first to kick the can. However, should the kicker get to it first, the hider is then trapped and must stand by the can while the game continues. Once all the kids are “captured” by the can, the game ends.
5. Set Up a Game of Hopscotch
Remember playing hopscotch as a kid? It’s really easy to make a “hopscotch court” too! All you need is some colored chalk and a cement sidewalk or driveway. Oh, and some bean bags or other forms of marker.
Step 1: Draw several large boxes on the cement– usually three squares– one on top of the other, then two side-by-side squares, another single square, keep drawing boxes until you have nine– now draw a dome-shaped “home” section at the top.
Step 2: Number each box 1 thru 10.
Step 3: Give the kids each a bean bag or marker. Have them toss it into a square. Now the child will hop to that square (on one foot, of course), pick up the marker and toss it to the next square. Hop to that one. When they get “home” they turn around and repeat the process.
6. A Pic-nic Lunch in the Park or at the Lake
A pic-nic lunch at the lake is what you had originally planned to do before the storm came in. However, this morning is a beautiful day! The ideal weather to pack a lunch and head to the park or lake with the kids.
How to plan a pic-nic:
Step 1: Plan a menu- either sandwiches, fried chicken or whatever your family prefers.
Step 2: Prepare the food for your pic-nic.
Step 3: Pack into a large picnic basket or cooler–don’t forget the drinks and ice!
Step 4: Bring along a large blanket or sheet to use as a picnic area.
Step 5: Arrive at the location, unpack and set up your picnic and enjoy!
Note: Make sure to bring along plenty of sunscreen, sensitive skin can easily burn when it is exposed to a lot of sun.
7. Some Other Fun Family Ideas for the Weekend
- Get everyone a bike and take a bicycle ride through town or along some trails in the park.
- Take a walk through the neighborhood; explore new things you cannot do while driving in a car.
- Buy some bird seed and feed the wild birds. Small children love the excitement of watching wild birds pecking at the seed thrown their direction.
- Plan a family movie night or game night.
- Volunteer time at a community event.
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