Summer Survival Guide- Rainy Day Play Ideas by Guest Blogger, Amanda Sikes

My name is Amanda Sikes and I blog at "Our Heart and Home". I am busy these days homeschooling, mothering my brood of five, and being helpmate to my wonderful husband. I am also "Pastor's wife" to our small congregation, sister, aunt, cousin, friend and daughter. But most of all I am a child of the King. He holds me in his hand and I am secure for all eternity.

Today I am hopping over to tell you of some of our favorite rainy day activities. I love sunshine as much as the next person, but I have come to view, or try to view rainy days as memory making days. As I type this I hesitate to say this. Because I really am having trouble feeling this way as here in the midwest we have had rain for about two weeks straight with little to no sunshine. And while I love making memories with the best of them, I like my sunny breezy spring time weather that we usually have here this time of year. Anyway, back to rainy day memory making activities.

The first activity is one that I did as a child and I am sure that most of us did. I find though that as time passes sometimes we need a reminder of the simplest things. So, in honor of yesteryears, here is my first activity......

....build a fort.

The next activity might seem silly at first or you might not think your children could like something like that. But please, give it a try. My children LOVE this one. Even my older children ages 8 and 6 still play this for hours when I get it out. So grab your spoons, measuring cups, muffin tins and ......

....your beans.

Every mother loves good clean fun so this next activity should make every one of you smile!

It's shaving cream art. Pile it, spread it, draw in it, and then wipe it up and the tables all clean. A little shaving cream goes a long way so start with a little and add more as needed. I would advise to test the shaving cream carefully if using on finished wood tables. The safest place for this activity is a folding table or child's play table. It's the safest bet.

Another idea?

Bag Bread
(click on above link for more info.)

So, there you have four of my favorite ideas for rainy days. I could go on and on with this list. I could add bake cookies, do arts and crafts, read a good book, snuggle with some hot chocolate and a good movie, or sing and dance to some great music. But, most of those things are just things that we mommas do to keep our sanity when everyone is cooped up for the day. I hope that these ideas help you to make wonderful memories with your family. And maybe to even look forward to the next rainy day.