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Rainy Day
Fun - Crafts For Kids
by: Jennifer Gove
Rainy
days can be so boring for a child…and
just as hard on moms. So we give some
ideas to brighten your day and chase
their rainy day blues away!
Shadow
puppets
In a room
that is fairly dark set up a flash light
so it is facing a wall. Have the
children make hand shadows…If they get
really good at them they could even put
on a little play.
My box
home
As a
little girl some of my best times were
spent making Barbie homes out of medium
card board boxes. Paints, markers,
crayons, fabric scraps, glue, and so on
were used to fashion wall paper curtains
and the like. The ideas and
possibilities are endless!
Little
boys can make garages for there cars as
well.
Magazine Story
Take ten
pieces of paper. Staple them together.
Have you child go threw a magazine and
pick out 10 pictures to cut out. Tell
him/her to paste one on each page. Now
what ever order they are in the must
right a story, the story should have
some thing to do with the pictures on
each page. This can be a real challenge
but is endless fun and giggles.
Puzzles
Have you
child search for a few pictures they
like in an old magazine. Paste these
pictures onto heavy cardboard. With a
paint brush, brush on a coat of clear
drying glue such as Elmer’s glue. Let
them completely dry. Once they are dry
cut them up into different shaped
pieces. Now you have a puzzle for this
rainy day and rainy days to come! Store
in zip lock bags.
Bean
Bag Pals
You will
need a 10x10 square of felt, thread,
needle, a parent to sew, beans or rice,
tacky glue and scraps of different color
felts to decorate with. Mom or Dad
should sew the squares together all the
way around, all but about 2 inches. Turn
the square inside right. Fill with the
beans or rice and sew closed. It can be
decorated with the scarps of felt to
make animals. Googly eyes are fun to add
as well but are not recommended for
children under four.
A Gift
of Comfort.
Not long
ago when I was in the hospital having my
son, I was given a special heat pack for
my back. It was very simple and would be
a great project for children to help
with. My suggestion is have your child
make about 30 and donate then to a labor
and delivery floor.
Rice
Sock Heat Packs
You will
need white men’s tube socks ones that
have no preformed heal medium is a good
size.
You will
need uncooked white rice (not minute)
You will
need ribbon any color or colors you
like.
Gift tags
that tie on.
Fill each
sock two inches from the top.
Tie a
length of ribbon tightly in a knot
attach the gift card and then make a
bow.
On the
gift tag write the instructions for use
(you could make gift tags on your
computer and print them all out)
Microwave on high for 2 minutes or until
it reaches the desired warmth. Enjoy!
These
work great, stay warm for a long time.
If your child makes them to give away it
is an added bonus of pride!
Dress
Up
My
children have a tote full of dress up
clothing. I did it inexpensively threw
yard sales, Dollar Stores, Halloween
clearances and Good Will. I pick up
things such as jewelry, hats, sun
glasses, badges, fancy dresses, costumes
and other articles of interest. Many
times I save new things to add on a
rainy day or another day they have
nothing to do. It generates new interest
and hours of play. One reader even
mentioned the idea of theme boxes. Such
as a fairy box if that was what your
little girl was into or a princess or a
firemen etc. I think that is a good idea
for but also I believe a good mix of
things inspires imagination and
creativity.
Driving Mat
A huge poster board or cardboard is
great to let your little one paint roads
on for his cars In fact I bought my sons
a light colors rug remnant (it was
cheap) about 4x5 .It can be any size you
like. My sons used fabric paints on the
rug. They painted lakes, roads, airports
trees and so on. If you decided to do
the poster board you can use crayons or
markers as well. They had a really great
time making this one rainy day and still
enjoy it to this day. When they are done
they just roll it up and put it away.
Card board milk cartons can be saved and
painted to make little decorative houses
and stores as well as stores to place on
their car mat. Be sure to wash them
well, dry them and staple them closed.
©
2003-2004
Jennifer
& Gregory Gove
Jennifer is the owner of
simplymoms.com. She is a full
time stay at home mother living
on the coast of Maine. To see
more articles, parenting
community, chat, baby name
finder and more. Visit her site
at
http://www.simplymoms.com
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