It’s pretty standard
these days for parents to find their time eaten up by chores, work, car pooling
their kids between school, enrichment classes and play dates and basically just
trying to keep up with the day to day realities of life. Even when you do get
some down time, the chances are the kids are absorbed in TV, a computer game or
social media, which can make it a challenge to actually do something together
as a family.
Be Prepared
Rainy days are the
perfect chance to enthrall your captive audience with some fun, rainy day
projects you have on standby – ready and waiting to make memories to treasure. You
don’t need to be particularly talented as preparation and enthusiasm go a long
way – and at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if things go wrong
, it’s the shared time that makes this
such a valuable exercise.
Project Idea 1 – Card Games
With one regular pack
of 52 playing cards, you can teach your kids dozens of different games. You may
have some games that you may remember from your own childhood, and if not the
instructions for tons of card games can be easily found online. The easiest for
beginners are games like Snap, Old Maid, Solitaire, Memory and 21.
Card games are cheap to
play, easy to set up, and create a healthy amount of both competition and
camaraderie.
Project Idea 2 – Create Your Own
Stories
Every family has a
collection of stories to tell, and
sharing them is a great way to reminisce, remember those we
have known, and strengthen the family bond. You can also use real events to
create an entirely new story – embellishing or altering the facts as you
choose.
Making a campfire is a
great idea if you are planning on telling stories out loud, and if you make
some s’mores, your kids will definitely remain interested. However, they can also be produced in
writing, or via a comic strip, drama or song – whatever works best for your
family.
Project Idea 3 – Design a Special
Poster
Making a poster is a
good way to produce something long lasting from your rainy day project. The
logistics of your poster – such as size, font, and color are one aspect of the
activity, but the main focus to start will be content.
There are so many
possibilities. You may need to organize a vote to choose what to create, or
have everyone make something different. Some ideas for topics include a poster
of house rules, a favorite quotation, promoting a family or charity event or,
for older children, creating advertising for a company they would like to own.
There are no limits to
what you can create, and with a
free poster maker
there’s no need to be limited by software costs.
Time seems to pass so
quickly, making it even more vital that we grab every precious moment of fun,
relaxed family time that is on offer. Simple projects strengthen bonds and
create great memories – don’t miss out on making yours.
