Rainy Day fun for Toddlers

Our forecast for the next week is rain. EVERY. SINGLE. DAY!  Like how does that even happen?  I went ahead and signed up for 3 workout classes to get us out of the house and so that the kids will be able to play in the church nursery. That will be nice, but still, that leaves us with a lot of hours stuck inside of our house which brings me to some of our favorite indoor activities!

1. Sensory Boxes- or as Charlotte calls them her "Bead box".  I made these last year before Claire was born because I wanted to have something to do to keep Charlotte occupied while taking care of the new baby.  I got most of the supplies from the Dollar Tree and I would definitely check there for things before spending a fortune at Target or somewhere else.  I would also recommend getting more sturdy shoe boxes because the ones from Dollar Tree are pretty flimsy.  Then you can fill them with whatever you please, pebbles, Beans, Rice, Noodles, Colorful aquarium rocks, or if you're brave......Sand.  I tried moon sand inside one day and it did not end up well!

I then put little play utensils, and small cups in there along with small figurines like dinosaurs, dogs, farm animals, bugs, and snakes. 

Charlotte will sit there and pour the beans or rocks back and forth into the cups or spoon them out.  She will also dig around to find all the little figures.  I have a little blanket that I lay out and she knows that she is supposed to keep everything on the little blanket.  She's also only allowed one box at a time.  This way they don't get all mixed up and or dumped out.  When we started out, I would make her sit in the high chair.

2. An indoor picnic! Who knew putting down the Outdoor Blanket could be so much fun?

4. A plastic pool-  We have a small hard plastic one so occasionally I will pull it out of the basement and let them play blocks in there.  Speaking of Blocks, these are our favorite because Claire can't choke on them.  

If I'm feeling like living life on the edge, I'll even put a little water in there and let her wear her bathing suit.  Desperate times call for desperate measures.

5. Build A bouquet- a friend of mine gave Charlotte these last year and we love to sit on the floor and make all kinds of different flower arrangements.  Char also loves to knock them over, but what kid doesn't?!?

6. Mini Squigs- Fat brain toys are great!  I bought these for Charlotte's birthday party and they were a big hit.  The pieces are relatively small so we only get them out when Claire is napping.

7. Jumpolene- We gave this to Charlotte for her 2nd birthday mainly because we needed something for the kids to do indoors.  It's relatively small so it can fit inside easily.  Ours is currently in our bonus room blown up.  I didn't want to get a big one with a loud continuously running pump because we don't have room for that nor did I want to spend the extra money so this one ended up being perfect!

8. Magnetic Blocks- These things are awesome!  Cliff and I find ourselves playing with them more than we should!  Char loves them too and I love to see what she comes up with.  She's very creative!

9. Matching Game- This is a new game that we play and I only pull out a handful of matches at a time.

10. Sticker Books , Washable Markers, and big empty boxes!  Who knew that coloring an old box could be so much fun?!?  I have to put them in the recycling once the girls go to bed so Charlotte won't get upset!