Rain, rain, go away. Come again another day…

We can wish all we want, but it looks like the rain is here to stay. We’re keeping cabin fever at bay on these rainy, rainy days by staying busy. I have two three-year-olds, so we need to stay really busy if I don’t want the laundry dumped all over the house or Vaseline smeared on the walls. Here’s how we create, engineer, grow, and explore in our kitchen.

Part I – Create

1. Grease cake pans and dust with flour. Instant finger painting.

2.  Cut a round oatmeal container in half. Using a strip of thick construction paper of thin cardboard, create a handle for the top. You now have a basket to decorate.

3. Using markers, crayons, and string, make a paper plate mask.

4.  Glue dried beans and pasta to a paper plate to create an artistic mosaic.

5. String penne, macaroni, or rigatoni noodles together to make a necklace. The fatter the noodle hole the easier it will be for little fingers.

Part II – Engineer

6. Use toothpicks and marshmallows to create shapes, structures, and more.

7. Build a tower out of clean food storage containers.

8. Hand your child a straws and have them blow feathers or small strips of paper across the floor.

9. Race canned foods on an incline. Try different sizes and weighs of containers. Guess which can will win.

10. Turn coffee filters into parachutes. Will the parachute still work if you attach a toy?

Part III – Grow

11. Place a handful of dried beans in a ziplock bag with a slightly damp paper towel. Over the next week, watch them sprout.

12. Cut a bunch of celery down to its base. Place it in a bowl of shallow water. It will regrow. This also works with lettuce heads and green onions.

13. Open a bell pepper and plant some of the seeds in cup with potting soil. Keep the seeds moist and place by a window with sunlight.

14. Cut a potato in half and place the cut side down in a mason jar with water (you will need to suspend it part way in the water with tooth picks). Make sure at least one of the potato’s eyes is below the water level. Place in a sunny spot and watch it grow.

15. Place a piece of white bread in a plastic bag with small helping of mud. Watch the mold grow.

Part IV – Explore

16. Using a pencil, punch holes in a Styrofoam cup. Let the kids splash in the sink and watch the water drain out the holes.

17. Empty a cupboard, and turn it into a child’s hideout for the day.

18. Give children a cupcake pan and an assortment of colored beads. Have them count, sort, and arrange the beads.

19. Freeze toys in ice. Place the ice blocks in a big storage bin and have children chip away at the ice until the toys are free.

20. Create a masking tape grid on the floor. Have the kids jump from square to square. They can also make their own roads with the tape and design a city.

I hope all your rainy days are happy days!