We know it can be difficult to think of ways to keep the kids entertained on a good day, but when the weather isn’t on your side, it can be even trickier to create fun and exciting activities indoors.

Parenting on Female First

Parenting on Female First

VoucherCodes.co.uk have compiled some fun indoor family activities to keep the kids busy during those dull and wet weekends.

Get creative and bring out your artisitc side with these fun indoor acitivites:

Homemade Playdough                                                                     

Playdough is a cheap and simple way to keep children amused for hours, and it’s surprisingly simple to make at home. This recipe requires a little adult supervision as the dough needs to be cooked. You will find most of the ingredients for this craft in your toy box – just add water!

Ingredients:

  • ½ cup of salt
  • 1 cup of plain flour
  • 2 tbsp. of cream of tartar
  • 1 cup of water
  • 1 tbsp. of oil
  • Food colouring

Method:

1. Mix the dry ingredients and oil together in a saucepan.

2. In a separate bowl, mix together a few drops of your chosen food colouring with the water.

3. Add the water/colour-mix to the ingredients in the pan and stir well.

4. Cook on a medium heat for 4-5 minutes, stirring constantly.

5. After a while the mixture will come together in a ball, once this happens remove from the heat. Allow the dough to cool slightly and then knead the mixture until it becomes smooth.

6. Your dough is now ready to be played with! You can store this in the jar provided, or in a zip-bag, to stop the dough from drying out.

Egg Cress Heads

An easy and fun activity for kids of all ages, and a great way to use up shells left over from breakfasts and cake-baking. Kids will love decorating their shell and won’t have long to wait until they can eat their very own cress. Everything except the empty (and clean!) eggshells for this craft is included in your toy box.

Supplies:

  • Empty eggshells (try to crack them close to the top of the pointed end)
  • Felt tip pens
  • Cotton wool
  • Cress seeds
  • An empty egg box

Instructions:

1. Wash out the egg shells with cold water and leave upside down to dry.

2. Once dry, draw faces on the eggs using the felt tip pens.

3. Dampen some of the cotton wool with water and put this inside your decorated egg shells.

4. Sprinkle cress seeds all over the cotton wool – good coverage will give you a full head of cress hair. Stand the eggs in the empty egg box.

5. Place on a windowsill and wait for the “hair” to sprout. If the cotton wool becomes dry, add a small amount of water.

6. After your cress head has fully sprouted, give it a haircut and enjoy your home-grown cress!

Tips:

For older children, eggs can be covered using watered down PVA glue and some tissue paper – adding feathers, pipe cleaners and googly eyes is also a great alternative to simple drawn-on faces.


by for www.femalefirst.co.uk