Long afternoons that feel short - tips and ideas for rainy days and indoors

The blog post is written on a typical December day in Germany, the playgrounds feel swampy, the sun shines for a maximum of 6.5 minutes and the children act like magnets and follow you into all rooms with the slightest time delay.

Some afternoons are just long, no hobby, no friends, a bit tired, every mum and dad knows that! Here you will hopefully find some cool ideas that will help you, there are small & bigger ideas. Enjoy the time, take the time and then take time for yourself! You are also important, take care of yourself, relaxed & exuberant you can be there for your child best. Here we go:

Set up an obstacle course. Put cushions on the floor, build something to climb out of a stool or a play landscape, in between a station for throwing balls into a ball pit, a chair by crawling through, climbing onto the sofa and jumping onto a cushion, crawling under the table, balancing on a rolled-up blanket, ...< /p>

The floor is lava. The name says it all =), after 2-3 rounds children often play a few rounds alone, depending on their age, and then get creative.

Dance the stop dance. Turn on music on your cell phone and when there is a break, everyone has to remain frozen, in competition mode the one who moves has to go out, can but then take over the pause button.

Make popcorn together. Ideally in a pot with a glass lid, then the little ones can see what's going on. Put tasteless oil with a little sugar in a pot and corn kernels, not too many, cover the bottom at most, put the lid on and wait.

Finger paints, Watercolours paint. Put your overalls on and off you go, put newspaper underneath. Handprints are a nice reminder, write the date next to them and you're always amazed at how quickly children grow.

Play putty. Make or buy putty yourself, pay attention to natural putty that doesn't dry out quickly , then you will enjoy it for a long time.

Take the doll to the hairdresser. Wash, blow dry and comb the doll's hair, you can even use a barber's set to simulate shaving.

A short documentary or an article about animals, watch your current favorite animal, then paint, do handicrafts or reenact it.

Baking or cooking together. Baking cookies is also possible after Christmas, the children don't usually mind ;-), prepare the afternoon snack together, let the little ones cut carrots/potatoes for the evening or the next day, bake a classic cake or sugar-free muffins.

Jump in puddles. Even going out in the rain for just 15 minutes can be great fun, jump in puddles and then come home warm and treat yourself to a cup of tea or cocoa.

Puzzle. Put away everything that is there, choose the puzzles according to age and provide support if necessary, with puzzles you can expand your vocabulary in a playful way and your child will concentrate and also make the mind a little tired after physical exertion, which usually makes it easier to put to bed = ) There are classic puzzles and there are puzzles by Stuka Puka, the puzzles are detailed, can be used as game pieces, sometimes are terms on German & English and they can be painted.

Build Great Towers. For smaller ones made of wooden building blocks, for larger ones made of Biobuddi stacking stones. Building towers is fun and knocking them down is even more fun.From experience: Don't knock over the children's tower, that leads to discussions ;-)

Build roads and ramps for cars e.g. build ramps with books and let them drive down, build cool paths for cars, for car fans I can do this with all my heart and conviction waytoplay streets recommend!

Mum or Dad do their hair and make-up. Think of the memory and the funny photo afterwards, have your make-up or hair done, children like it. With water, comb, brush and Hair clip it will be fun afternoon.

Children just like to be there, if you want to do something, take a little more time and let them help, load the washing machine, let the duster wag. Children like to help. And if they don't feel like it, a little motivational speech in a mysterious voice will help: You know what? We're a team now (insert your last name here, favorite series character, animal, witch, etc.) and we have a mission, if we complete it, there will be a little surprise/let's have a party, etc.