It’s Raining; Let’s Play Outside!

There’s no such thing as bad weather if you’ve got the right clothing on! Check out these fun ideas your child can play outside in the rain, plus a few goodies to keep them warm and dry.
It’s raining, it’s pouring and there’s no better time than right now to play outside in the rain! From splashing in puddles to making a mud kitchen, rain adds a new dimension to a child’s play and enriches their learning experience.

Let’s Play Outside in the Rain
Raindrops are amazing. From the way they look on a windowpane, the feel as they land on your cheek to how they make puddles and squelchy grass to walk on, they open wide the door of play experiences. We’ve put together a small collection of fun activities you and your child could do when playing outside in the rain:

• Puddle art – grab the chalk bucket and go puddle hunting. Use the chalk to draw pictures or shapes inside a puddle and see how the colours change and move about. You can even gently place a piece of stiffer paper on the surface of the puddle then lift up and place somewhere flat to dry.
• Will it float? – use a container filled with rainwater and a collection of items to put into it to see if they float or sink? Pegs, plastic toys, stones, leaves, feathers, toy cars, they’re all great to use and learn the vocab float and sink too.
• Mud pies – you just can’t beat mud pie making on a rainy day. Getting all in their with their hands helps a young child learn more about textures and temperature, but there’s nothing to say that they couldn’t use old kitchen utensils or a plastic shovel instead.
• Splashing – gumboots or bare feet, making splashes by jumping in and kicking the tops of puddles is great fun But you can also make splashes with other things too, such as bouncing a ball or dropping something like a handful of pebbles into a puddle or water filled container.
• Get gardening – a light drizzly day is great for planting seeds in the garden. Choose fast growing seeds such as radishes, lettuce and sunflowers so that the kids don’t need to wait for long for results. If you need child sized gardening tools, ours are perfect for the job.
Remember to dress your child warmly with a jacket, trousers and gumboots so they keep their clothes clean and dry while staying nice and warm.

what's your favorite thing to do in the rain? tell us in the comments