Rainy (Hurricane) Day Inside Activities for young toddlers
The beginning of Fall 2022, we (Allyssa and family) had to prep for Hurricane Ian coming for Florida. The storm was huge, record-breakingly so, and it was moving SO slow. A slow hurricane means lots of rain. Thankfully, we live in the middle of the state of Florida, not near either coast, so the damage to our house was not nearly as bad as others endured.
During the DAYS of rain, I knew it was going to be rough keeping my little one entertained. She is used to leaving the house multiple times a day for errands, trips to parks, or walks around the neighborhood. We were stuck inside from Tuesday to Friday because of the storm. Here are the activities I created to keep her body and brain engaged. At the time, she was 13 months old. These activities were great for her age but you may have to adapt them if your little one is older or younger.
Pillow Obstacle Course
There’s no need for anything fancy here. I picked up the pillows and threw them on the floor. Any time it seemed like she was finished with the activity, I rearranged the course and she was game to try again. She’s not saying many words yet - I modeled environmental sounds like “wee” and “uh oh”.
Toy Spider Web
This spider web took some prep time but it was worth it! I hid toys in the bottom and then taught her how to find them. This activity is likely better for a little one a little bit older than my daughter. Her arms were a little too short to reach the bottom. The activity made her a little frustrated, so it was a perfect opportunity to model asking for “help”.
Mess-free Finger Paint
This activity was perfect for my one year old. You need a piece of paper (I used cardstock), any kind of paint (I used acrylic because it’s what I had), a gallon ziploc bag, and masking tape. Place the paint on the paper in the bag and tape the bag to the floor. Once she was finished, I took the paper out of the bag and let it dry. It made beautiful artwork without the mess.
Toy Car Wash
This activity was the biggest hit of them all. This can be done outside with less prep, however, with the weather not cooperating, the kitchen floor worked just fine. You’ll need a large Tupperware or bucket, dish soap, a wash cloth, a sponge, and toys to clean. I put everything on a big towel in our kitchen. “Car Wash” by Rose Royce was a perfect theme song for the activity. For this activity, I modeled a lot of verbs! “Wash”, “dry”, “put in”, and “take out” are perfect ones to start with for the activity.
Shaving Cream Shapes
This is a classic for classrooms. However, it was perfect in her highchair. Thankfully, my little one isn’t one to put everything in her mouth - if that’s not the case for you, you may want to wait for this activity if they’re young. She loved the feeling the the shaving cream and destroying my shapes, letters, and numbers I wrote on the tray. This is a great activity to target academic concepts.
Plastic Cup Tower
This supply list is short - plastic cups. That’s it! I stacked the cups and she loved knocking them over. We also hid small characters and items under the cups. This activity was great to target positional concepts such as “under”, “over”, “on top”, and “next to”.
Trapped Animals
For this activity, you will need masking tape and any toy. I used animals for the farm but you could do the same with puzzle pieces, balls, or play food. Tape the toys at eye level or higher to have your little one “rescue” the animals.
This is a great speech therapy trick as well - if you put the animals up a little higher, the child must as for “help”, “up” or label the animal they want in order to gain access to the toy.
I was thankful for the opportunity to mix up our playtime a little bit during our hurricane “staycation” and many of these activities will become frequent flyers in our house. We had a blast despite the circumstances. Tag us on instagram @redrosespeechies if you try any of these activities or others on your next rainy day!
