By Stacy DeBroff

When the weather turns crummy, try these other indoor activities to entertain your child:

Have your child help you take apart an old or broken appliance you don't plan to use again and see what's inside.

Hang newspaper, butcher paper, or an old sheet on the wall and have the kids paint a mural.

Build a fort with as many blankets, pillows, chairs, and sheets as you can.

Stage a scavenger or treasure hunt in the house.

Have an indoor picnic.

Polish pennies using salt and vinegar

Use fabric paints to decorate old T-shirts, hats, socks, towels, or pillowcases you have in the house.

Bake a cake or cookies. Make fun snacks. Let things get messy.

Make paper airplanes and have a contest to see whose flies the farthest.

Play board games, card games, or put together a challenging puzzle.

Record yourselves singing a song, reading aloud, making up poetry, or making nonsense words.

Write a letter or make a card for a distant relative or a friend whose birthday is approaching. Decorate the stationery or the envelope.

TODDLER

Have a parade. Make costumes from old clothes, towels, or paper bags.

Make a marching band, with pots and pans for instruments.

Make an indoor sandbox using a box containing bird feed, rice, or beans.

Make homemade play-dough.

Make edible finger paint using vanilla pudding mix with one half cup of water and food coloring.

Set aside treats and toys that only come out on rainy days, when kids are sick, or when they complain once too often about being bored.

Help your child make something from an old box, coloring it or decorating it with construction paper, or break it down, lay it on
the floor, and have your child color or paint it.

Start an indoor garden with seeds, carrot tops, beans, and root vegetables.

Fill the sink or a dish drain with a small amount of water, add some measuring cups and kitchen tools, and pull up a step stool.

Play dress-up with old clothes, shoes, and makeup. Formal dresses, suit jackets, funny shoes, hats, gloves, and wraps will all spark your child's imagination.

Make puppets from an old glove or sock. Make a stage from an old box, and stage a play.

Write a letter to the president, your local representative, or a favorite author.

Make a snack necklace from oat cereal, dried fruit, and marshmallows.

Make birdfeeders from pine cones rolled in peanut butter and seeds. Hang them from trees in the yard and record the types of birds that come by.

Try the following projects when you're stuck inside and run out of things to do:

MOM TIP

Make a volcano, and give yourself brownie points for doing educational kitchen chemistry at the same time! Have the kids make a "volcano" out of construction paper. Place it over a measuring cup containing some baking soda. Place both in a large pan with sides to contain the mess. Squeeze in a few drops of red food coloring and then pour in some vinegar. Voila! Red "lava" will pour out. For another great activity: pour some cooking oil into an old jar with a screw top lid or into a tall, clear cup. Add a few drops of food coloring, and marvel over how the drops will break up but won't mix in. You may also, of course add some water. Try dish soap. Try milk.
Kathy Moberg, mom of Eric, 17, Sean, 14, and Kelsey, 12

MOM TIP

For craft projects, I give them things to make unusual textures with the paint, like a wok brush or pancake spatula. We also use pudding for paint. My kids are too little to really use scissors themselves, so they shred up bits of colored paper that we glue onto paper to form a mosaic in the background, and which they are so proud. I get the cardboard and paper used to wrap items for moving from a local moving company. I'll take the cardboard, cut out a whole the middle, have the kids paint the sides, and create frames for the fridge. For our art projects, we use an old tablecloth with the plastic part facing down to stop spills from leaking through.
Maria Hammontree, mom of Nicholas, 3 1/2, and Sarah, 1 1/2

If you want to try edible play-dough, try making peanut butter play-dough. Mix two cups dry milk with two cups peanut butter and three tablespoons honey to the same consistency as Play-Doh. You may need to add more dry milk to achieve the right texture.

Make a necklace of cereal on string or dental floss. Watch your child while she eats this to make sure she doesn't choke on the string.

Peel the paper off old crayons. Arrange them in a small metal pan or mold, melt them in a 350 degree oven for fifteen minutes, or in your microwave in a glass pan. Watch closely and remove them as soon as they melt together. After the melted mass cools, peel it out of the mold and give your child crazy multi-color crayons with which to draw.

Make edible finger paint using vanilla pudding mix with one half cup of water and food coloring.

Use marshmallows and toothpicks to make interesting architecture.

Polish pennies using salt and vinegar.

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