How to survive the rainy day blues with your toddler

Have you ever felt like you might just lose your ever-loving mind if you have to spend one more minute cooped up inside with your toddler? Yeah? Me too. Summer is on the way, and while that's mostly a good thing, it also means the rainy season has begun. Just this past week we dealt with four days straight of rain and thunderstorms. We've gotten to the point where the thunder booms and my toddler automatically shouts "it's raining!"

I don't know about you but the last thing I want to do on a stormy day is drag my toddler out in the rain. By the time we get anywhere, we are both soaked and miserable. Forget trying to push a stroller and hold an umbrella at the same time - it's impossible. 

But those days when we can't go out and play or drive to the park are TOUGH. I don't know about your toddler, but mine will only play contently by himself for a half hour tops. The rest of the time, he wants to be entertained - what's a mom to do? 

We've have to get very creative to keep ourselves from going crazy during the rainy season, (which lasts from May through October here in Florida).

Here are our top 5 stuck inside activities! 

1. Drive-in Movie 

We like to pull Jacob's ride-on car inside so he can watch a movie in it. It has a buckle, which he can't undo yet, which means he's contained if I need to do some dinner prep in the kitchen or check up on some emails. I can usually set him up with a snack and a drink and he's good to go. Sometimes I'll curl up on the couch and watch with him, and sometimes I'll take advantage of the extra time to get some work done. If you don't have a car you can turn a cardboard box into one with a few art supplies and some imagination!

2. Board Game Marathon

Jacob is just starting to learn how to play games. We like this one because it has bright, familiar characters and we can practice colors and counting while we play. Jacob needs quite a bit of guidance at this point to successfully play, but that's to be expected. 

3. Hallway Bowling

We set up our narrow upstairs hallway as a bowling alley, complete with pool noodles for bumpers and our little wooden pin set. I got this set at a thrift store in Denver, several summers before Jacob was born, but you can find a similar wood set here.

4. Bathtub Art Party

Art is notoriously messy with toddlers, which is why I like to contain it to the bathtub for easy clean up. Jacob can color or paint to his hearts content and then I can just spray off both him and the bath. You can make your own paint using cool-whip or whipped cream and food coloring, or use bath crayons like these.  

5. Puddle Jumping

If all else fails, and you can not stay inside for another second, put on your rainboots and your coat and introduce your toddler to the pastime of puddle jumping. You'll want to make sure there is no thunder or lightning of course, and be prepared to warm up afterwards with a bubble bath or maybe some hot chocolate! 

I love to make snack mix on rainy days. I usually use whatever we already have around the house but one of our favorite combos uses Chex Mix, Bugles, and Orville Redenbacker's Gourmet Popcorn which we combine with some M&Ms for a salty and sweet rainy day snack mix. 

My little guy likes to dig through and pull out all the chocolate pieces first!

Having snack mix on hand saves me from running out in the rain which makes me AND little man happy! What's your favorite rainy day activity?

Here's a handy pin if you'd like to save these ideas!