Rainy day, budget-friendly activities for kids

Looking for some fun, easy and budget-friendly crafts to do with your kids on rainy days?  It is as simple as picking up a few fun ingredients next time you are at the store.

Lisa Kothari, owner of Peppers and Pollywogs, a kids party planning site, and author of Dear Peppers and Pollywogs…What Parents Want to Know About Planning Their Kids’ Parties has provided us with some great activities that can be used both for kids’ parties and rainy day activities. Lisa has also received substantial media coverage for her company and book, including The Washington Times, ChicagoTribune.com, BusinessWeek, Parenting, Boston.com, and dozens of TV stations. I hope you enjoy these activities as much as my kids did!

Apple Smiles
You will need:

  • Red Delicious Apples
  • Mini Marshmallows
  • Creamy Peanut Butter

Cut up apple slices that are thick and have a flat edge.  Smear edge with creamy peanut butter and add marshmallows for teeth.  Try creating a top lip for your smile.  Use another smaller slice of apple with a flat edge and smear with peanut butter again.  Place atop the marshmallows.  Fun snack!

 

 

 

 

Body Glitter
You will need:

  • Small bottles
  • Aloe Vera
  • Essential Oil
  • Glitter

Assemble all of your ingredients into the small bottles.  Shake up well.  Instant body glitter without the big expense!

Little Ocean
You will need:

  • Small, empty baby food jar
  • Blue food coloring
  • Small shells
  • Sand

Place a layer of sand at the bottom of the small baby food jar.  Add a thin layer of shells.  Fill the jar with water.  Add two drops of blue food coloring to the jar.  Seal the jar with a hot glue gun.  Shake well!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edible Bracelets
You will need:

  • Round gummy candy, Lifesavers, Cheerios, etc.
  • Small licorice rope

String the round holed candy through the licorice rope.  Tie off for a sweet bracelet, necklace, or even for a ring!

Our visit to Swains Lake, Barrington, New Hampshire

Continuing on our boating adventures, we tried our local lake. We have been on Swains Lake many times before with our old boat, a 13 foot aluminum boat with a 6.5 hp motor, but this would be our first adventure with our new motorboat on this lake. The boat landing is very easy to navigate and parking has not been much of a problem.

Common Loon

Swains Lake is a small lake, about 350 acres, and is created by a dam that was originally built in the 1860′s, which can be seen from Hall Road. There are a variety of camps, houses, a campground and lots of woods surrounding the lake. The lake is divided into two sections, connected by a channel between some islands. On sunny days you can find people fishing, water skiing, canoeing, sightseeing and swimming while enjoying this beautiful lake. The local fauna includes Loons, turtles and an occasional fish jumping out of the water. From where we live near the lake, we can hear the call of the loons usually at night.

This was our first time taking friends on the boat and it started out with a bang…..literally! With the beauty of this lake comes the unknown.  There are lots of rocks that are not marked.  We were about 500 feet from the landing and in the middle of the channel when we hit a rock. The propeller hit the rock on two of its fins. Luckily the damage was not trip-ending. 

We continued around the lake stopping at different spots for the older kids to swim and our younger boy to fish (with his toy pole). We made it back to the boat landing without any additional problems. I am hoping that we can build up our courage to take the boat back out onto the lake, because propellers can be expensive to replace…as we discovered!

Enjoying swimming in Swain's Lake with friends.

Swimming at Swain's Lake with friends.

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