Rainy Day Schedule
A few weeks ago, Arizona had a rain storm for the records books. Seriously: 
It rained so much that many schools were canceled, leaving parents scrambling to find babysitters and activities to occupy their kiddos. My children have a ton of energy, so a day stuck in the house was a recipe for disaster. By ten in the morning I could feel everyone’s patience wearing thin, and it was too early for a glass of wine. I was getting to my last nerve and had to think on my toes. Streets were completely flooded so driving for a play date, even indoors was out of the question. Here’s what we came up with for our Arizona rainy day schedule:
Puzzles and Games
I don’t enjoy puzzles, but my son Biggie LOVES them. I broke out all of the games that we don’t normally play with, like Battleship and Goodnight Moon. These games have a lot of pieces and who picks them all up? I do, so it was a special occasion to get to play with them. Biggie was enthralled and had a great time always winning.
School at Home
As you can tell from Buddy’s face, he was super excited to have to do his sight words and read from home. He thought he got the day off from school too, but he was wrong! I downloaded the sight words quiz he usually takes at school and some easy beginning readers. We spent time reading and practicing together. Then, Buddy had the joy of practicing math worksheets as well. Biggie loves to learn along side his brother so it was sweet for me to watch.
Bath Time
Summer time in Arizona usually means spending home days swimming in our backyard “pool” (I say “pool” because ours in inflatable). I took the opportunity to let Beauty play in our indoor pool, also known as the fancy bathtub. Killed two birds with one stone.
Avoid Your Kids By Cleaning
While Beauty was bathing, I used the time to catch up on some cleaning when I watched her in the tub. The boys were trying to find me and ask for yet another snack, but when they saw I was cleaning the bathroom they ran. They knew I would put them to work. Cleaning actually gave me a nice break from the kids as they tried to avoid the manual labor.
Run Outside During Rain Breaks
There are always the occasional breaks in the storm, so I ushered the kids outside to run and frolic. Biggie used his chalk to color every brick on the wall. He made a wonderful, beautiful mess. Gave me an excuse to put him in the “indoor pool” as well.
Break All the Rules
I don’t normally let the boys play on the computer or the Nook for extended periods of time. It’s usually used as an incentive or (cough) bribe (cough). But this day I threw caution to the wind and let the boys play for as long as they were not fighting…how long did that last you ask? About five minutes…
What are your favorite rainy, snow, heat advisory day activities?
Seriously, please share you successes with me. With three kiddos I am running out of ideas!
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I usually let them paint and draw as well. That keeps them occupied for about half an hour! I love the first picture with the shark – I had to laugh when I saw that!