ADVICE RATING |
 5.00 (Highly recommend) from 12 votes (239 Visits) |
I live in the Middle East where the temperature is between 45 and 55•C in summer - so instead of having rainy day activities we have hot day activities when its too hot to go outside. Here is a list of some cheap,easy and entertaining ideas for kids -
please contribute if you have any other ideas :)
1)Bubbles: all kids love bubbles! Make great bubbles by putting some dishwash liquid and some water in a bowl - use lots of different things to make bubbles; wisks vegetable strainer etc. I put Bryn (3 yrs) in an empty bath with some baby shampoo and a bit of water (better for sensitive skin and eyes) and let him use his whole body for bubbles(elbows,hands etc. I give him some plastic bottle to fill and shake to make foam. Fill a glass with bubble mix and put a straw in it. I add food colouring to this to make funky bubbles.
2) Monster mud: this is a hit with Bryn. A bit messy but ok in the kitchen! Make with cornflour and food colouring, adding water a little bit at a time. Keep adding water until all the cornflour is wet but not too runny. If you add too much water it dries out quickly. When it dries up (from children playing with it) you just need to add water again. It is great because it is hard when you pick it up but goes runny immediately. If you rub a spoon over the surface (when its in a bowl) it will seem solid,but hold it still and it will sink.
3) Play dough. There are lots of good recipes if you google it.
4) Cut outs - get one of your many old gossip magazines and let them cut out the people etc. Glue it to an excercise book to make stories.
5) Photos: kids love looking through photo albums and it gives you peace until they start asking 'who's that man?' etc. good for us because our family are so far away.
6) Tracing paper: good old tracing paper will occupy your kids while they learn to draw their favourite book characters. They can then colour in their pictures.
7)Paper mache - use old newspapers,magazines etc. You can even make glue with flour and water but paste is cheap. Cover a balloon and pop it when paper is dry. Paint when finished.
8) My son likes to make huts with table and chairs.they can throw blankets etc on them and play for ages. Keeps them away from the sofa cushions too!
9) Flower pressing is good too,send them into the garden to collect leaves, daisies etc and press them on paper with some books on top. After about a week they are pressed and ready for gluing in an excercise book. They can then draw bees, bugs etc with them.
10) Wax paintings: drip candle wax onto paper and when it hardens let your munchkins paint over it with water colours - it looks great because the colour goes around the wax. Use different colured wax for a different effect. Can also draw with crayons and has the same effect if painted after.
11) Water slides: you can make water slides (or have your children make them) with large plastic rubbish bags. Cut the sides and connect the ends with masking tape. Squirt some baby shampoo on it and a bit of water and you have a slippery waterslide that keeps them occupied more than a bought one. The effort they put into it means they will spend more time on enjoying it!
Let me know what you think of these ideas and add any more ideas you have. Cheers
(August 2007) (
