If you are like me, a rainy or snowy day brings a slight feeling of dread. I love creating fun play or learning activities for my kiddo, but suddenly between breakfast, lunch and nap times, I have just a little too much extra *indoor* time to kill… and we can only watch so much Daniel Tiger. 😉 Fortunately, there are so many resources out there with awesome ideas for ways to fill the time while having fun.
In this age of Pinterest, there is always, well, Pinterest to help inspire great ideas (follow me!). But I also love having something a little less overwhelming to flip through sometimes. That means books and good websites. I like ones that have lots of pictures, easy-to-follow instructions, and lots of ideas for varying ages. Many of the books and websites listed here focus on craft activities, but I have also tried to include some that feature games and other physical activities, as well as books that have a science component. Enjoy!
Awesome Arts and Crafts Books:
- Baby Play: 100 Fun-Filled Activities to Maximize Your Baby’s Potential by Wendy Masi and Roni Cohen Leiderman
- The Busy Book series – I have talked about my love for the Toddler Busy Book by Trish Kuffner, although this is only one of a whole series full of great ideas
- 101 Kids Activities That Are the Bestest, Funnest Ever!: The Entertainment Solution for Parents, Relatives & Babysitters by Holly Homer and Rachel Miller
- Unplugged Play (No Batteries. No Plugs. Pure Fun.) (all ages) By Bobbi Conner
- 365 Smart After-School Activities by Sheila Ellison and Judith Gray (other books in this series include 365 Games Smart Babies Play and 365 Games Smart Toddlers Play)
- The Williamson Little Hands series – includes Big Fun Craft Book (ages 2-6) by Judy Press, Kids Create! (ages 3-9) by Laurie Carlson, Science Play (ages 2-6) by Jill Frankel Hauser
- Recycled Crafts Box by Laura C. Martin – uses for those old yogurt cups, plastic lids, paper, cans and more
- Martha Stewart’s Favorite Crafts for Kids (all ages)
- 150+ Screen-Free Activities for Kids by Asia Citro
Awesome Science Play and Experiment Books:
- Mudpies to Magnets: Science for Young Children (ages 2 and up through elementary school) by Elizabeth Sherwood, Robert Williams and Robert Rockwell
- Kitchen Science Lab for Kids by Liz Lee Heinecke
- Dad’s Book of Awesome Science Experiments by Mike Adamick
- 365 Simple Science Experiments with Everyday Materials by Richard Churchhill, Louis Loeschnig and Muriel Mandell
Excellent Websites:
- What Do We Do All Day
- Fantastic and Fun Learning
- Red Ted Art
- Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds
- Growing a Jeweled Rose
- JDaniel4’s Mom
- Where Imagination Grows
- Reading Confetti
- PBS Parents (has lots of resources beyond crafts, including info about child development and parenting in general)
- For Nick Jr. fans: Nick Jr Crafts
- For Disney fans: Disney Crafts
- KinderArt (organized by age!)
- Busy Bee Kids Crafts and Enchanted Learning (I find these site particularly helpful if you are looking for coloring pages, mazes or other paper games… if you are a teacher, you probably have used them before)
- Science websites:
- The National Science Teacher’s Association has a great list here
- Steve Spangler Science
- Science Kids
- PBS Zoom
Craft supplies that are useful to have on hand:
- Vinegar
- Flour
- Baking soda and baking powder
- Oil
- Cornstarch
- Salt
- Cream of tartar (good thing to add to homemade play dough because it makes it last longer)
- Food coloring (or your fave alternative to this)
- Markers and/or crayons
- Scissors
- Glue (both glue sticks for the kids, and Mod Podge for adults/older kiddos) and/or tape
- Tempera Paint (various colors, but at least the primary ones!)
- Construction Paper
- Paintbrushes
- Scissors (adult and safety scissors if you choose to let the kiddos cut)
- Plastic tub or bin for messy activities (helps confine the mess), and a few tupperware containers of varying sizes
- Spray bottle
- Medicine dropper
- Waterproof tablecloth (or any large plastic sheet) to lay down under messy projects… easy to take outside and hose off after!
- I also keep a drawer of recycled stuff (plastic lids or containers, toilet paper rolls, straws, egg cartons, old socks, whatever) to pull from when needed
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Looking for more books at your local library? Head to the kid’s non-fiction section, and then find go to the call numbers listed below. (For smaller libraries, the children’s non-fiction may be mixed in with the adult non-fiction – so look there instead, and find these call numbers with a “J” in front of them):
Games: 790s
Arts and Crafts: 745
Science Experiments: 507.8, 530, 372.3
And, for more ideas, follow me on Pinterest and Instagram. I often post the crafts and activities I have done recently with my daughter. Have fun!
the Stay At Home Librarian 