rainy day ideas #1

throughout our 2 months of this whole homeschooling adventure, we've discovered some really fun and simple activities. i've been keeping a running list of the things rachel has really enjoyed so far so i can pull them out again when playtime ideas run low (and when our winter rainy season gets underway). i thought i'd share my list here:

• coins in an egg carton: take an empty egg carton and number the slots with a marker 1-6 if you have a half dozen, 1-12 for a dozen. (my random foreign-country egg carton has 15.) have the child put that number of coins in the appropriate slots. cheap, simple, easy, and amazingly fun!

• home-made beanbag: i used one of lucas's too-small socks, some rice, and yarn to make our very own home-made beanbag. the fun that can be had with this thing is apparently infinite. rachel likes to toss it in a kitchen pot. she likes to walk across the room while balancing it on a wooden spoon. also, i've made little flashcards for the letters we're learning. sometimes i'll spread them out on the floor, say the sound of a letter, and rachel will throw the beanbag at the letter. i'm telling you. infinite possibilities.
• follow-the-string hide and seek: it's pretty self-explanatory. pick a stuffed animal or something that could be a "treasure," tie a long piece of string or yarn to it, hide it, and let your child follow the trail. then take turns and let them hide it for you to find.
• push-pin pictures: on a piece of dark construction paper, i drew a picture of a sun with a black marker. rachel put the paper on the carpet and poked holes along the lines with a push-pin. then we hung it on the window of her daddy's office for a surprise when he got home.

• playdough: we all have it. we all love it. add two simple components to it and it makes it all the more fascinating. 1. roll playdough snakes and cut them with scissors. 2. hide coins in the playdough and let your child find them and pick them out. sounds simple and kinda boring. but rachel has never played with playdough for so long... ever.
• cheerios bracelets: stringing cheerios on yarn. what could be better? or more edible?

(i misjudged rachel's yarn length, so hers ended up being a crown. live and learn.)

enjoy!