This year’s frequent bad weather got you down? Tired of stomping puddles? Here are a few fun indoor ideas for keeping the kids busy and yourself sane!
Around the House
- Great Excavations (Excavating critters from ice blocks) — with a little advanced preparation, you can create a fun and educational learning experience that will keep your little ones busy for a while.
Our take: We filled a tupperware dish a little less than halfway with blue colored water and a handful of dinosaurs. After a couple of hours, we added some red colored water and another batch of dinosaurs. We flipped the “glacier” out on a big cookie sheet, and my little guy had a blast using a variety of “tools” to free his dinosaurs from the ice. We tried table salt, rock salt, water (cold and hot), spoons … so much fun!
- Have a ‘Frozen” fanatic in the house? Make and melt some “Frozen Elsa” hands. Fill them with fake jewels, or Frozen-themed tiny toys, and let your little one work some magic.
- Tents and Forts: Indoor Camping: Grab the tent or some blankets and help the kiddos construct a hideout. Bonus points if you can do it in a place that’s just out-of-the-way enough to keep the thing standing for a couple of days.
Our Take: We filled our tent with pillows, books and games … had breakfast and lunch and even an iTunes-fueled movie night.
- Have an obstacle course competition or a hot lava show down. My little guy loves to make “maps” to plan out his routes. To prevent our house from succumbing to total destruction I cordon off one room for the fun.
Make some stuff:
- Whip up a batch of Oobleck — the gooey, category-defying substance that hooks kids on science. Just be sure to cover your table. Our rule is that it stays in the bowl, which stays on a cookie sheet.
- Try your hand at Cloud Dough. Helpful tip: Cover your workspace with a towel first!
- Get crafty. Pull out some old paper, recyclables, or household goods and make a toilet paper roll monster, a birdhouse, or even better, one of these cute birdies.
- Make it musical. Build your own rainstick with some paper towel tubes and pebbles or dried beans.
- Make a duct tape treasure box and stage an indoor treasure hunt.
- Pull out some painter’s tape or masking tape and create a roadway, a line jump, a mini maze or a fun hopscotch! Works well in an unfinished basement or even the garage!
- Stave off hunger with a fabulous fruit rainbow.
- Is your kiddo a questioner like mine? Get sciencey — make your own rain gauge, then explore a bit more about the water cycle.
Out and About
Local museums are always fun when it’s rainy, and the Boulder/Denver area has quite a few: the nearby Butterfly Pavillion, the WOW Museum, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, the Denver Art Museum (kids under 18 are FREE everyday!), the Children’s Museum, the Aquarium, the Colorado History Museum, the Longmont Museum, the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery. Little museums like the Weather Station/ Visitor Center at NCAR, or the Colorado School of Mines Geology Museum or the Natural History Museum on the CU-Boulder campus can be a fun, quick diversion if you’re near campus (both have a small area for kids on the bottom floors).
Tired of the museum route? Here are a few other ideas around town
- Knock down some pins at some local lanes. Chippers, Coal Creek, Fat Cats are just a few of the great bowling spots. Even better? Sign up for Kids Bowl Free, pick the lane closest to you — around here, likely Chipper’s, and save some cash. Kids Bowl Free offers free daily games for little ones throughout the summer (does not include shoe rental, though!).
- Slip on some skates and practice your moves at Skate City in Westminster.
- Explore the Boulder Recycling Center on a self-guided tour
- Visit the Hammond Candy Factory it’s fun and sweet and best of all, FREE.
- For kids 5 and older, enjoy a tour of the Celestial Tea Factory or check out the Leanin’ Tree workshop where you can watch the famous Leanin’ Tree cards being made.
- Indulge in a little fun relaxation with a kid/teen spa day at Flutter Day Spa for Kids or Jack and Jill.
- Sign up for some stupendously fun art classes: Kids’ Posh Splat, Clementine Studio, Tinker Art Studio, and Art Underground are a few good places to look.
Just need a place to jump around and get the crazies out?
- Dizzy in Longmont is always a big hit with my little one. It has a fun climbing structure, bouncy house and inflatable slide for the 10 and under crowd. Laser tag and loads of games round out the fun.
- ABC Climbing offers family climbing nights and open gym times:
- Jump City (Arvada) offers MOD Moms a great Buy One Hour Get One Free deal if you show your MOD Moms card!
- Great Play of Superior offers punch card style camps (starting at 5 punches) which can come in handy for bad weather days! (MOD Moms get 10% off camp punch cards, MUST show valid MOD Moms card.)
- Playscapes at Flatirons Mall and Cherry Creek Mall are good for a quick bit of free fun
- Don’t forget about the FREE play areas at many local rec centers such as Apex (we love the clubhouse!), Paul Derda, and Erie.
- And of course, don’t forget about the awesome indoor water centers at these great rec centers as well!
Have any other great tips? Leave your ideas in the comments! Thanks for stopping by!
