Bad Weather Days

I love the temperate weather of North Carolina.  We've just enjoyed a week of sunny, mid-50s weather days making outside activities very enjoyable.  After lunch each day, my preschool-aged son, myself, and our energetic lab puppy suit up in weather appropriate clothes and take a walk.

This last beautiful weather week though, my son has had the same request every single day.  He's wanted nothing more than to put on his frog boots and stomp in puddles.  The only problem - no puddles, not a drop of rain.  It got me thinking though, how easy it is for adults (myself very much included!) to use "bad weather" as an excuse to stay inside.  I even have an entire Pinterest board devoted to Rainy Day activities, and most of them are inside activities!

So today, it's raining and chilly, and we're making it a point to get outside to stomp in some puddles.  Here are some of our other favorite bad weather day outside activities:

1. Hunt for worms and follow them as they slowly make their way into the mud
2. Build sandcastles in the sand box when the sand is wet and very moldable
3. Play in a mud pie kitchen
4. Make tracks in the mud with different trucks and toys
5. Collect rain in different containers and measure the rainfall
6. Have a kid's toy car wash and let the rain wash the bubbles away
7. Blow bubbles and try to catch them to see how bubbles act differently in the rain
8. Draw with chalk on the driveway, enjoy the vibrant colors thanks to the rain
9. Grab an umbrella and sing
10. Look for rainbows as the rain stops and the sun starts to shine again

How do you enjoy rainy days with your little ones?