Rainy-Day Activities with the Kiddos!

I am not sure how many of you are in the same boat as I am, but my husband and I created one very vibrant (read: extra) child. To top it off he is (and will remain) our only child, so besides his fur-sister Peyton, we are totally on the hook to occupy him. Sure, I could give him some tech and let him watch YouTube all day (which would probably be his preference)… but I know that only leads down a long dark road. The road where he is irritable and an angry mess from dinner to bedtime.

Most of the time, I can come up with simple, fun ways to engage him and keep him busy (ahem, wear him out). The weather forecast in South Jersey calls for a bunch of rain (off and on) the next 10 days and it got me thinking about how we have been having the wettest last few years in history. This summer, I know there will probably be a fair share of weekends when we will be under water and with cabin fever. With that, I have compiled my list of rainy day activities (many of them on the cheap) outside the house, and things you should always have on hand for a quick at-home activities.

For those of you who don’t want to read the full shebang, here is a breakdown of my hit list:

• $1 Movies at Regal Cinemas on Tuesday and Wednesdays all summer
• Community Activities like: visiting the local fire department or police station for a tour (call first)
• Public Library events like kids’ yoga or reading with therapy dogs (yes, this is a thing!)
• Lunch at double-duty locations like Chick-Fil-A or where they offer character meet-ups
• Grab a Groupon deal for a museum, aquarium, roller skating, trampoline parks, and more
• Interactive activities at home like decorating cookies, making pizzas, puzzles, or Legos
• Build a pillow fort, watch a movie or read a book, or just go play in the rain!

MOVIES!

It is easy to want to skip the movies since usually it costs a lot to get in. Plus, if you have a toddler (or more than one child) you’re probably fearful that you won’t make it much past the opening credits before you:

• Run out of snacks
• Must take the clan on a potty break
• Start cleaning up spilled juice
• Yell “stop kicking the seat in front of you!”
• Have to move seats because you’re too [close to the screen; far from the screen; etc.]

You get the picture. Anywho, this summer Regal Cinemas is running $1 kids movies all day on Tuesday and Wednesday! In the past, I haven’t really loved the movie choices, but this year’s line up for the Summer Movie Express looks especially promising. With films like Despicable Me 3, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, Secret Life of Pets, The Grinch, Smallfoot and SO many others there is something for everyone. AND DID I MENTION IT IS ONLY $1?!

If you want to be a rebel like me, stop at Five Below before you go and grab rations to sneak in your inevitably large bag! Brock’s favorites are Swedish fish, M&M’s, cheese curls and fruit snacks. I usually grab all or most of these, so I have enough to hold him over for however long the movie is. If you aren’t sure whether your little one is ready for the movies, this is the perfect time to try it out! We have been taking Brock to the movies since he was around 18 months old, so he is a pro at this point. Either way, for $1 you can’t beat it.

Before you head into the movie theater, be sure to dig out some of those quarters from the floor of your car… if your kid(s) don’t make it through the whole movie you can kill some more time at the theater’s arcade!

FREE Community Activities!

If you aren’t already, join all of your local city/county and mom Facebook groups! There are often moms who are much higher achievers than I am who will post upcoming community activities. If there aren’t any of these groups you’re aware of (or if you just want to avoid those groups like the plague lol), there are still plenty of ways to find out what is going on. Did you know that many large fire departments offer FREE hours where they are open to the public? If your kid is anything like mine, the sight of a firetruck is enough to spark joy on Marie-Kondo-folding-pants-into-tiny-squares levels. If this is something your little one would like, call and see if they offer times to come explore the station, trucks, and equipment.

Another cool thing we have in New Jersey that is free and fun for older kids is the New Jersey State Police Museum & Learning Center in Trenton. Bring your kids here for a tour through the history of the State Police in NJ, some fun and interesting artifacts, a “faux” crime scene, and more.

Now that we are in the technological throws of things, many people forget about the days when we would go to the library to get new books and learn new things. WHAT?! Did I just age myself, am I an antique? Anyway, our local libraries offer some great activities for kids! The bonus? They’re usually also educational and gets your kid out there where they can interact with other kiddos too – this is a huge perk for us since Brock is an only and we love to keep him socialized as much as possible. Our local library has toddler yoga, Lego club, cooking classes, and a “Furry Buddies” event coming up where kids get to read books and hang out with therapy dogs! Is there anything you can think of that could possibly sound cuter than that?

LUNCH DATE!

Want an activity that will do double duty? Look no further than Chick-Fil-A! I sound crazy, right? But seriously, it is one of the most clean and healthy fast food chains AND they have a great playground inside. Take the kids for lunch, then let them play at the playground while you finish your Diet Coke and decompress for a few minutes. I know every time I tell Brock we are going to Chick Fil A, he acts like we are going to Disney World… so I would call that a win.

If you want to get a little more fancy, you can look up character visits in your area. There are a variety of places in South Jersey that include character visits by Paw Patrol, Peppa Pig, Disney Princesses, and more and all you must do is purchase lunch. This isn’t something I would do every week, but it is great for something a little special, and will be sure to keep the kids happy and occupied at least during the lunch hour. The Pop Shop hosts these all the time or take your kiddo to a Fancy Nancy soiree at Moozie’s Play Café (for example). Carbs and a busy kid… sounds like a win to me.

Sometimes I also take Brock to the mall, which sounds like it would be a nightmare, but it really isn’t so bad. If you think about it, most malls don’t have toy stores like they used to when we were young. When I take Brock, he doesn’t usually ask me to buy him anything. But, you can get away with buying a pretzel from Auntie Anne’s and snagging some quarters from your car floor (do you sense a theme about how clean my car is?) and let him or her ride a few little rides. Most malls now also have the kids soft play areas, which can keep kids occupied forever. Our mall has a carousel, which is $2 per ride but I can usually con the operator to let us take two rides if there aren’t any other kids on it. I can easily waste 2 hours in the mall without even entering Express or American Eagle and keeping a happy child!

GROUPON!

We are in a unique and fun position where we live that we are close to the South Jersey shore points and less than an hour from Philadelphia, so we have a ton of options! Plus, now a days, there are fun things on every other corner you can do. The issue is spending an arm and a leg every time you make a day of taking the kids out for some fun on a wet day. So, I always check out Groupon to get a deal and see what is out there!

Right now, there is a Groupon deal for the New Jersey Planetarium, a bunch of different museums in Philadelphia, trampoline parks, roller skating, pottery painting, and a ton more. Some specific things I know Brock likes are bowling (we often go to DiDonato’s Family Fun Center, and you can grab a deal for their cosmic golf too!) or anything with games and tickets (there’s a deal for Dave & Buster’s).

Let’s be honest though.

Sometimes it just isn’t in the cards to leave the house when it is crappy outside. Either you don’t want to cart the kids in and out of the car multiple times in the rain, or maybe they’re just being real terrors. Because of days like that, there are a few things I make sure I always have at the house.

• Sugar cookie or cupcake mix, tubes of icing, sprinkles and other decorations. For some reason, although I cannot bake to save my life, my child love to bake and decorate baked goods. So I know that if we are stuck at home, he will always be willing to sit still for an hour if I let him bake cookies with me and set him up to decorate them.
• Legos. Need I say more?
• Pizza ingredients for my two-ingredient dough, toppings, parchment paper. My kid doesn’t eat pizza, but again he loves to help me cook AND I love to eat pizza so I call that a win to be honest.
• Puzzles! We love puzzles and this is something I can even get the husband in on. Over the holiday season when it is really cold and gloomy, we can go through multiple huge puzzles. For shorter-term gross days, like the random rainy summer afternoon, I have smaller kid-friendly puzzles to work on with Brock.
• S’mores ingredients, including graham crackers, chocolate, marshmallows and tin foil sheets. Brock loves to “do a fire” in the summer, but if the weather isn’t cooperating that doesn’t mean we can’t still enjoy some campfire inspired fun. Wrap up your smores ingredients in a tin foil sheet and place over your gas range or in your oven for a few minutes. Done!

If all else fails…

Break out the couch cushions, pillows and blankets to make a fort, a big huge bed on the floor, pop some popcorn and watch a movie or read stories. Or, you can throw on the rain boots and rain coats and jump in some puddles!