If you don't want to plunk them down in front of the TV, keeping kids busy and happy on a rainy day is a challenge. This checklist of things to keep on hand will ensure that your kids always have something creative to do!
- Assortment of old buttons (the button box is a great favorite!)
- Scissors
- Glue
- Tape - masking and scotch
- Thin string
- Colored yarn
- Construction paper, many colors
- Regular white paper
- Crayons (I like to keep them sharpened)
- Colored marking pens
- Hole punch
- Assortment of cardboard things: boxes, toilet paper tubes, etc.
- Assortment plastic things: bottle lids, pen lids, plastic containers w/ lids, etc.
- Old magazines or catalogs with lots of pictures to cut out (they especially like the toy catalogs...)
- Popsickle sticks
- Toothpicks
- An old blanket (and a couple of chairs in a corner to drape it over)
- Recipe for modeling clay (see below)
- Snack stuff (see below for my grandkids' favorite tidbits..)
EASY CLAY RECIPE
- Mix together
- 2 /12 cups flour
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup salt
- Food coloring, optional
Store in refrigerator.
OUR FAVORITE TIDBITS My grandchildren are fussy eaters. But they love our little tidbits, served on a plate in small bits and piles, and eaten with their fingers for the most part. The key is the smallness of everything. These are just a few of their favorites:
- Raisins, dried apricots and other dried fruit
- Almonds
- Peanut butter on crackers
- Cheese, sliced VERY thin, or in little cubes
- Apple slices
- Banana slices (leave the peeling on, just make a slice on one side so it's easy to peel off)
- Fishy crackers (the ones shaped like little fishes)
- Peanuts (not in a shell)
- Pretzels
- Carrot sticks (very thinly sliced)
- Chocolate chips
- Applesauce
- Cinnamon toast, cut into small bitsized pieces
- Chex snack mix (we love to make this ourselves - combine rice, corn and wheat Chex cereal with peanuts and pretzel sticks and a little seasoning salt)
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