Rain rain go away (rainy day fun)

It is supposed to rain all day today and on and off all week what can I do to keep a 19 m/o, 3 y/o, 5 y/o, and a 7y/o happy without going insane?

If it is nice outside - temperature wise, why not go out in the rain and play for a bit? Put on their swimmers/swim suits and run free! Treat it as a sprinkler. That's what I'll be doing later on this week!

My dk ages are: one, (2) two and three, plus my own 8 and 5 year old.

If we're stuck indoors, my kids love indoor obstacle courses with chairs, pillows, tunnels, books as stepping stones, brooms to step over etc.

Those are the days I'll set up the indoor tent for them to play in. Bring out rainy day toys. I have toys that I switch around weekly, but then I also keep a stash of rainy day toys and they only come out on the really yucky-stuck-in-the-house days.

My older ones prefer doing extra crafts, so I'll always make sure to have projects for them.

Your kids are old enough for hide and seek, mine love that game.

Roll out a huge sheet of paper on the ground and give them crayons and let them have fun.

And as play and Learn said, if it's not a downpour we'll head outside with our umbrellas and go for a walk or play and they don't mind about getting wet, they actually have a blast in the rain.

Good luck!

My outside playtime is after nap so the day itself continues as normal although they love to watch the rain. The one difference is if it seems especially stormy we stay upstairs rather than being in the basement should the power go out because I don't want to freak them out and not want to play down there anymore. Once they are up it is only an hour till hometime. I plan a snack that takes longer to eat and then bring out a few extra toys. It has been since noon since they had freeplay so they are quite content to go back and play. My kids are trained to entertain themselves so they play wherever I put them be in main floor playroom, kitchen, basement, outside, etc.