When the weather outside is frightful, keeping your kids entertained can be far from delightful.
Take heart; the following low-cost items will keep your kids happily occupied until the sun returns.
Giant Floor Puzzles You'll find puzzles by Melissa & Doug for about $10 at stores like Learning Express and Borders. In addition to promoting spatial and fine motor skills, these colorful puzzles will keep your child quietly entertained and will last for years.
Magazine Subscription For about $2 an issue, your child can receive hours of educational fun by mail. Keep back issues of magazines like Your Big Backyard or Highlights on hand for cold or rainy days. They're great for long car rides, too.
Library Card You'll have to leave the house to check out and return items, but access to thousands of books, videos, and audio materials is free in most communities. Set a weekly time for a library visit, and you'll always have something "new" in the house when your kids have tired of their own belongings.
Second-hand Clothing Take your children to a thrift store and allow them to spend $10 on clothing,shoes, and costume jewelry. They'll have extra fun playing dress-up in a wardrobe they've personally selected.
Junk Mail Save catalogs and colorful flyers in a bag for bad-weather days. The possibilities for art and craft projects are limited only by your imagination. Try making greeting cards, paper dolls, menus for playing restaurant, and original story books illustrated with catalog photographs. Your child also might enjoy playing mail carrier with those credit card offers you typically discard.
Food Containers Save macaroni and cheese and cereal boxes, oatmeal and salt canisters, plastic baby food containers, and milk cartons. Your child can play grocery store or kitchen or can construct a neighborhood from the empty containers. Younger children will enjoy stacking or filling containers with blocks or plastic linking toys. Containers filled with dry macaroni and secured shut become noisemakers that don't require batteries and won't give you a headache.
