More strategies for rainy days

Rainy day strategy #2: Wear good gear.
Ok, this should be obvious. But I'm surprised at how often it's not. I see kids trying to play but getting miserable and cold in their soggy, not-warm-enough, leaky clothing. I only recently discovered the existence of rain pants. What a brilliant thing! With those, a good hat (or hood), and rain boots, a kid can be covered head to toe and splash to their hearts' content. I'm also a big fan of snow suits, which in spring become "mud suits." That's Lucy wearing her lightest-weight snowsuit above; perfect for a cool rainy spring day (and I'm still loving those Stonz boots for her!). Much worse than kids not dressed for the weather ('cause many of them don't really mind being wet), is parents who simply don't want to be out in the rain themselves and so keep their kids from enjoying outdoor play. Why? They're not dressed for it themselves. This is how I look when I take the kids out to play in the rain:

What? You say I'm not fashionable? That my men's rain suit is a few sizes too large? It's true. But I'm also the mom who can play outside in the rain for hours, sit on the wet ground when I get tired, and pick up a muddy child who needs some comforting without a moment's thought to my clothes. Mamas, if you don't have rain gear and a snowsuit, get thee to a thrift store and buy some! I swear, it will completely transform your attitude toward the weather.

Rainy day strategy #3: Bring out art supplies.

Sometimes, a child is feeling grumpy about playing outside in the chill and rain. That's when I like to pull out something interesting to distract them from their (often temporary) discomfort. Art supplies are one of my favorite rainy-day tricks. Chalk, paint, and clay are all easily used on a rainy day and are transformed by the rain into a new experience. Look how brilliant the chalk colors are on a wet driveway!

Chalk. Rain pants. They seem like such simple little things. But if it's the thing that gets you outside on a rainy day, it opens up a whole world of possibility for discoveries about the joy of nature in all weather.

Play along with us during the month of April for Children and Nature Awareness Month by posting a picture of your child(ren) each day enjoying the outdoors! Get outdoors and climb a tree! The list of players is growing every day; check it out here.

If you're going to be wet anyway...

I don't intend a full post for every day of the (newly re-named) Great Outdoor Challenge. For the most part, I'll probably just add a photo to end of another post. But today's rainy weather got me thinking about how often I'm asked about taking kids out in "bad" weather (I don't like using that judgemental term, however; I prefer the Norwegian philosophy of "there's no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing.") I thought it might be nice to share a few of my strategies here.


It rained this morning. Most of the parents hadn't expected it, so the kids didn't have all their rain gear. I have boots for borrowing, so we geared up as well as we could. Today I chose one of my favorite rain strategies: if you're going to be wet anyway, might as well go to water. We headed for the little stream at the end of our block. There, the kids threw rocks into the water (or rolled, as size dictated!), searched for "treasure" (special rocks, bits of glass, fallen tree buds), waded in the water, and climbed fallen trees. We returned covered in mud, pockets full of treasure, happy and tired.




Play along with us during the month of April for Children and Nature Awareness Month by posting a picture of your child(ren) each day enjoying the outdoors! Get outdoors and climb a tree!