Inside Rainy Day Activities

It’s important that everyday your toddler has a chance to release energy and get those wiggles out. It can help bring some sanity to chaos, enhance behavior, increase listening skills, improve nap time and bed time and work on gross motor skills.  Although daily time outside is ideal, there will be times during the year that weather won’t allow for outdoor play. With some creativity and items from around your home, you can easily set the stage for beneficial motor development!

• Line up empty food boxes in a hallway, up against the wall. Take a small to medium size soft ball and knock the boxes over. You have just created your very own bowling alley! This can also been done with blocks or books or animal figurines. We gathered water bottles in our home and used those for our “bowling alley.”  It also allowed me to introduce to him the concept of recycling!
• Next time you are at the store purchase a small bag of balloons. Blow up a few and play a game of keeping the balloons in the air.  At first, attempt  to keep them up using your hands and then, challenge yourselves by making a “no hand” rule!  Try to keep the balloons from falling to the ground by using anything but your hands.  Elbows, knees, feet and heads are all game!
• Hide and Seek is a classic game that kids love!  A great chance to practice our counting skills, ask your little one try to count to ten while you hide somewhere and let her figure out where you are.  If she finds you, make up a celebratory dance that you do each time together.  It will require memory and gross motor skills to perform the same moves each time!
• It is always fun to build a fort out of blankets, pillows, chairs and a table.   Crawling in and out of it is a great way to physically work out those muscles while adding a sense of pretend play and language skills.  You can also play house and bring stuffed animals for a “fort party!”                                                                                                                                                  

Using your home to bring creativity to your indoor gross motor activities can be so much fun and beneficial that you and your little one might actually love rainy days!