How to keep fidgety fingers (and toes) occupied on a rainy day.

There are lots of lovely things to do when the soggy-ness of the very unpredictable English weather decides to turn on the heavenly taps after a few days of glorious sunshine. Don’t  let it get you down folks. Here are a few ideas to liven up, brighten up those gloomy grumpy cloudy days.

1. Put on your wellies, get your macs on, grab your brollies and go outside. Stomp in every blessed puddle you see. Get wet, get muddy, you’ll appreciate the warm indoors and a lovely cup of hot chocolate for you and the wee one that much more when you get back.
   
2. Go out into your own backyard, to Hampstead Heath, Regents park or Primrose Hill armed with a bucket and a spade. Take great big oodles of mud, add some water and mix it up nicely. It is your very own lovely gooey mucky paint to do with what you like. Paint the shed in the garden, the Patio floor or some wet and soggy (after being out in the rain with you) left over cardboard. If you have indulged in painting sheds or patios, be prepared to get great buckets of water and brushes for a good clean up afterwards.
   
3. Make paper boats, go out and sail them along the minute rivers that run down the road. Chase after them. Race them. Make sure you take the soggy paper away with you though please. No littering is encouraged.
4. For those who prefer the indoors, get some disposable oven trays, squirt from bottles of as many colours of paint as you like, spread paper all over the floor, turn on the music, step in the paint and then and go wild. Sing, dance, twirl. The patterns and fun you have will never be forgotten. (Added fun if you tape bubble wrap over your feet).
5. Paint yourselves, faces, hands and legs and pretend you are an as yet, undiscovered tribe deep in a jungle. Do a war dance. Make sure there is no expensive fabric covered furnishings around!!
6. Squirt shaving foam into a large tray, squirt food colouring, mix together and paint your bathroom walls.
   
7. Bake. Cook. Experiment with food. Ice some shop bought cakes or make your own. Do funny faces, noses, eyes.  Make ginger bread men and create your own story. Add food colouring to pasta to make it weird and wonderful. Boil eggs in food colouring to turn them different colours.
8. Use the cardboard tubes from loo rolls and paper hand towels to make your very own marble runs. Packing tape or masking tape helps to tape the tubes together. Banisters make the whole experience that much more fun but if you don’t have a banister, use your furniture to prop it up.
9. Do potato prints or broccoli prints or any other vegetable prints on paper or on old clothes. (If you want the paint to stick on old clothes, you may need to invest in fabric paint). You can also use sticks. Paint the sticks and roll it on paper to get lovely effects and prints.
   
10. Do science experiments. Write secret letters/draw secret pictures in invisible ink.  – Just use lemon juice with a few drops of water to make the ink. Dip a paintbrush in,  write/draw on paper and let it dry. Once dry, hold it over a candle or to a naked bulb to make the writing/drawing show up.
    Make a clay/plasticine volcano. Pour a mixture of bi-carbonate of soda and vinegar with red food colouring in to make your volcano erupt.
    Make rainbow coloured bath bubbles. http://mamapapabubba.com/2013/08/14/ridiculously-fun-colourful-bubble-foam/ and go wild in your bathroom.
11. Draw patterns on all your windows.
    
12. Make a fort or tent with sheets and chairs. Take a torch in and read a book together. Jungle or pirate books help set the mood.
13. Make bowls of pop corn together. Curl up under a duvet and read. Look at pictures. Take turns to make up funny stories.
14. Pour some oil, water and different food colouring into a dish, Swirl with matchsticks or chop sticks and see how many designs you can come up with. See if the colours will mix.
    
15. Paint or draw faces on all your eggs. Then make wooden spoon people – wool for hair, paper for dressing them, some googley eyes and washable felt pens to draw on faces with. Make up stories.
    

In short, go wild, have fun, don’t let the weather spoil your day. These are just a few tried and tested ideas for rainy day activities. Do get in touch if you have any others up your sleeves. We would love to know more.