Rainy Day Activities with Your Toddler

A couple of weeks ago I was doing double duty remote work and childcare. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I set up days like this in such a way that I start very early in the morning so that I have a window of time from mid-morning to early afternoon to spend with him (and then I get back online as soon as he’s down for his nap).

Usually that time would include a visit to the playground and the library, or maybe the children’s museum or zoo if we wanted something different – but none of those were an option that particular week. My son had a weird rash that was starting to spread, and since we weren’t sure what it was, we didn’t want to take him around other kids. A Nor’easter was also coming through our area on one of these days, which meant even going to our backyard wasn’t a good idea.

That left me staring down two days of making up some alternative activities – but it ended up being easier than I thought it would be. Here are some of the things we did together: I hope it gives you some ideas the next time you’re looking for some rainy day activities at home!

Everyday objects can be lots of fun on their own.

My son is only two and a half, so I’m not sure if this applies as much to older kids – but he loves to make up games with stuff around the house. On the first of the two days (the one where the Nor’easter was coming through), he decided the big throw blanket in our living room was his new favorite toy. We came up with a bunch of different things to do with it – his favorite being “making a boat,” which entailed him lying on his back on the blanket, me gathering it up, and dragging him across the length of the first floor in it like I was pulling him on a sled. When he got tired of that, he wanted to read some books – so he dragged the blanket (and me) over to the couch, climbed into my lap and put the blanket around us to read for the next half hour.

Chores can be exciting for toddlers – if you make them exciting.

Between all the rain and the not being able to take him to places with other kids, my son became my errand buddy for those couple of days. We went to the grocery store, put new sheets down on the guest bed, cleaned the kitchen, and did a few other things around the house that were safe for me to involve him in – and when possible, I made some of those activities more like a game for him. What I’ve realized about my son in recent months is that generally, when he’s getting fussy, it’s just because he wants to spend some time with me and my husband. And at this point in his life, getting to help me with little things is a great way to keep him busy while also spending some time together. And don’t worry; I interspersed these activities with fun things that he wanted to do too.

Pick a thing you like to do, and do it together.

Cooking is one of my favorite things to do, and my son sees me in the kitchen a whole lot during the week – so I decided to do some cooking together with him for those two days, since that’s something my mother used to do with me when I was little. I got his little apron out (my mother made it for him last Christmas) and on one of our grocery store trips, I got the couple of things we needed to make blueberry crumble. He was relatively limited in what he could actually do (it mostly consisted of me measuring everything out and then giving it to him to pour into a designated bowl, and the occasional attempt at stirring ingredients together) – but he still felt involved. Since it was just us and I wasn’t pressed for time the way I usually am when I’m cooking for us, I had a chance to slow down and let him take his time. And since then, I’ve been a lot more open to him helping out in the kitchen for kid-safe activities, especially since he seems to have fun doing it!