Outdoor play is an essential part of childhood development. Therefore it is paramount that children get to experience this no matter what the weather.
Rainy playgrounds can be a fun and exciting place for children of all ages. That is why we have come up with a list of six different ways in which you can utilise your outdoor play equipment, even when the sun isn’t shining.
Rainy Day Play
Before heading outdoors in the rain it’s a good idea to ensure a few rainy day essentials are on hand. We recommend children – and teachers and carers – are equipped with:
- Water resistant coats or snow suits as a practical top layer protecting indoor clothes and base layers
- Wellies or boots for splashing in puddles
- Hoods, hats or umbrellas to keep heads warm and dry
- Gloves, scarfs and suitable socks or tights too to ensure fingers, nose and toes are nice and cosy
- Hi-vis jackets to keep little ones safe on grey days or dark winter afternoons
- A positive attitude for making the most of a rainy day, ensuring play is safe and enjoyable for everyone.
There’s lots of games to play on a rainy day and many rainy day play ideas have a learning element too.
Read on for our rainy day activity suggestions.
Make Mud Pies
Mud Pies are the perfect rainy day activity.
Children can get outdoors and explore their surroundings whilst finding the individual ‘ingredients’ they want to include in their mud pie.
Alternatively teachers and practitioners may set a scavenger hunt style activity, issuing a list of ingredients children need to find in their outdoor space to include in the mud pie recipe.
This encourages innovative thinking, independence and team work.
Saving this activity for a rainy day means the ground will be soft enough to easily collect mud without the use of sharp tools.
In addition to this, sustainable practices such as collecting your own rain water to use as a mixing agent are a great way to open up conversations about recycling, ecology and sustainability.
Mud pie activities can be linked to core subjects within the school curriculum too.
Children who participate will be required to weigh and measure ingredients as well as sticking to a recipe, incorporating elements from Maths and English lessons.
Older children could first be tasked to create their very own recipe for the perfect mud pie. Pupils can figure out measurements, as well as follow the literary guidelines for creating an instruction sheet/recipe.
For younger children the imaginative play element of making a mud pie helps them to act out scenes from home such as mealtimes, as they extend their understanding of the world around them.
Which Hand Made Places product is perfect for this activity? The Mud Kitchen.
Make Rain Art
Children love making outdoor art, and during the summer back gardens and school playgrounds provide the perfect canvas for children to create large chalk drawings.
That being said, this isn’t the only time in which children can create interesting pieces of artwork using outdoor mediums.
Rainy day play can provide a new way of creating art which is beautiful and can be used to create winter or autumnal displays in school classrooms, halls or corridors.
Using watercolour paint on canvas paper or tough card, encourage children to use their imaginations to paint a design or picture. Leave these works outside in the rain. Watch the designs transform into natural works of art as the raindrops interact with the paint and create new representations.
Outdoor classrooms can also be a great place to carry out this activity, with children basing their original designs and drawings on the natural surroundings.
Which Hand Made Places product is perfect for this activity? Darell Gazebo
Paint with Mud
Another artistic twist on a rainy day outdoor activity is mud painting. Mud is a naturally occurring material which can be used to make marks on paper.
Children will enjoy collecting mud, mixing it with the rain water and using it as a natural paint to draw on large sheets of paper.
This is also a great sensory play activity producing smells, textures and different shades.
Base pictures can then be enhanced with the addition of leaves and foliage glued to the mud drawing. The use of natural materials will add an element of realism to the artwork.
Not only this, using sustainable non-toxic materials to craft will give pupils a brilliant insight into environmentally friendly and sustainable practices, as well as teaching pupils about the use of natural resources as opposed to synthetic or man-made materials.
Which Hand Made Places product is perfect for this activity? Oak Leaf Table
Make Rain Music
Rain makes such a beautiful sound on its own, but it can sound even better with a little extra help from outdoor musical instruments.
At Hand Made Places we sell a variety of outdoor musical instruments which are perfect for making beautiful rain music.
When the raindrops begin hitting the Congas or the Rainbow Sambas it will produce some interesting naturally occurring tunes.
Why not record these sounds using technology and have pupils write lyrics as well as utilising other instruments to make their very own “rain song.”
If you don’t have any Hand Made Places Congas yet, you can replicate a similar effect using pots and pans.
Which Hand Made Places product is perfect for this activity? Congas
Jumping in Puddles
Children love jumping in puddles, putting their wellies on and splashing up and down the playground. It is so much fun seeing the water splash up and down.
Not only is this lots of fun for children, but it is also a form of imaginative and active play, both of which are paramount to childhood development.
Children who enjoy this activity will be exercising their muscles, improving flexibility and increasing their daily amount of activity and cardiovascular endurance.
STEM activities can be themed around children jumping in puddles. Have one child jump in a puddle and a second stand close by with a meter rule. The second child should measure how high the first child managed to get the water.
The children can then switch places. You can then plot all of the measurements on a class graph and the two children who got the water the highest can receive a small prize.
Please note that some puddles can be deeper than they initially appear. Before allowing children to splash in puddles a responsible adult should test the depth of the puddle. Children should also be advised to bring spare clothes or waterproofs for any activity involving water or rain.
An alternative to jumping in puddles is a nature walk, comparing how different the locations look, feel and smell in the rain compared to dry days.
Children can bring back their interesting finds to discuss and share with each other.
Which Hand Made Places product is perfect for this activity? Discovery Table
Go on a Minibeast Hunt
Minibeasts such as slugs and snails love the wet weather and often come out of hiding just to be out in the rain.
This makes it the perfect time to go on a Minibeast hunt. Pupils can search through their play areas, around the trees, inside plant pots and anywhere else these little critters might be hiding.
Encouraging pupils to search for minibeasts will help to instil a sense of inquisitiveness, and an appreciation for their environmental surroundings.
In addition to this children can learn all about natural habitats, as well as natural ecosystems, food chains and life-cycles of different creatures. A minibeast hunt could also form part of forest school rainy day activities.
Create a check list of mini beasts for children to find on a rainy day, encouraging them to look but don’t touch and to record their findings with a picture or log of where they were hiding.
Alternatively create new habitats to encourage more wildlife and insects to the school’s outdoor play and learning area using natural materials like leaves and twigs.
Which Hand Made Places product is perfect for this activity? Minibeast HQ
Safety on rainy days
Children should always be supervised when participating in any activity which involves water and puddles, although they will love getting outdoors and splashing about.
Our playground design team at Hand Made Places works with schools and nurseries nationwide to create outdoor learning and play spaces which meet the needs of each location.
If your playground vision includes a space for outdoor activities even on rainy days, our specialists can advise on the best products and layouts to meet those goals.
And because we design, manufacture and design everything needed for the perfect playground project, we can create unique playground products and experiences based on client feedback.
For more information on any of the products in this blog or for a free playground consultation contact Hand Made Places today.