What to do on Rainy Days

Today's storm has all of the Bay Area stuck indoors, so we thought we'd spare a thought (and some ideas) to parents who are not only working from home today - but also managing the kids! Since you can't send them to the playground right now, here's a list of 10 things you can do inside.

(1) TV
Don't feel bad about it, there are a lot of hours to kill. We recommend limiting TV time on these days to two episodes of a show, or one feature length movie. Pop some popcorn, stay in your PJs and relax.

(2) Computer/iPad
Again, don't feel bad - just make boundaries. Maybe your child needs to have breakfast eaten, teeth and hair brushed, clothes on and bed made... then they can have 20 minutes of an educational game. They will spend the whole day asking for the iPad, so why not create limits that are win-win.

(3) Baking
Provided you have the ingredients ready to roll, what child doesn't love whipping up a cake?

What if the power goes out?

(4) Construction Challenges
How high can they build a tower out of Kapla blocks or Legos? How do they need to alter the foundation or base of the structure to get it taller? How wide can they build a city? How elaborate can the city be? What are the laws of the city? Invent, invent, invent!

(5) Board Games
Dust off that pile of games you have in the garage! Kids love playing board games with their parents, because it's an opportunity to level the playing field when it comes to finances, experiences and strategy. Playing board games is also a great way for kids to learn communication, wise financial moves and deals.

(6) Craft
Craft can be anything, made from whatever you have lying around. Extend your child's creativity by not buying fancy craft materials - upcycle garbage and see what becomes of it all. You might just see jet packs out of cereal boxes, wands made out of sticks and cars made from old packing boxes.

(7) The "Hat Game"
This one is great for times when you're waiting. What kinds of hats can you name? Take turns until nobody can think of any more hats. For example; police hat, baseball hat, beanie, fez, beret...

(8) Word at a time story
This is another great "waiting" game - each say one word at a time, building on what the last person has said. Sometimes you'll need boundaries around potty talk, or saying "then he died" (which finishes the whole story). Most importantly, this game causes children to build on the ideas of others instead of stealing the spotlight for themselves.

(9) Drawing Games
Fold a piece of paper in three parts. One person draws a crazy head, then passes the paper to the person beside them. That person draws in the middle section of the paper, a completely unrelated and creative torso. Then the paper is passed again, where another person draws funny feet. Open up the paper and... voila! You have a crazy monster.
(NB: Don't forget to extend the neck to the second third of the page, and the legs to the third, so that the picture connects in all the right places)

(10) Junk Mail "shopping"
Since it's the holidays, grab that pile of junk mail and do some "window" shopping. Each page of the catalogue has numerous kid-friendly items, and children can play in partners by quickly pointing to one item that they would like on the page. If someone already chose it, they have to choose something else. This game is a great way to explain the idea that sometimes we want things, and we can really like things, but we don't need to buy them. We can pretend to buy something and also have fun.