You know how rainy days can throw off your baby’s routine daily routine (specifically affecting the gross-motor, go outside part)? Well my friend, I’m here to offer you 8 rainy day activities for babies!
We occasionally get rainy seasons during the Winter here in SoCal and I personally love that time of year!
And when working with my babies in the Nido, rainy days are so exciting but can occasionally tougher than normal. Since babies thrive off of consistency, the shift in routine can be tricky, especially for babies who have a stronger sense of order.
So here are some of the best 8 Rainy Day Activities for Babies that I have used over the years!
8 Indoor Energy Exuding Activities To To With Babies
- Music: Bring out the instruments, play some jams, and be silly! Get out their energy banging drums, shaking maracas, hitting symbols, playing a little piano and more!
- Dancing: Dancing is the perfect way to get big movements into their day! Jump around, sway, spin, and tap! Show them how we get silly too!
- Painting: Sit them at a low table or in their high chair and let them either finger paint or use a small paintbrush and make a craft! You can even make something out of it for a Christmas present for your partner!
- The Ants Go Marching: March around singing the Ants Go Marching. Model how to march and show your baby all the gestures! They’ll eventually catch on or at least be entertained by you marching all over the room!
- Cook: Get your older infants involved in their meal prep! They’ll have the time of their life getting to do what you do and rewarded by getting to eat it too!
- Yoga: Doing baby yoga when it is rainy outside is another good way to do some bigger movements for our more aware infants.
- Baby Exercises and Massage: For our younger non-mobile infants, doing baby exercises and massaging can help them exert some energy!
- Big movement lessons: Have the 10 months + babies put clothes into a laundry basket or help put dishes into a bin. Getting them involved in practical things as well as fun activities helps them feel included in their environment!
So on these days, we know that we definitely have to get creative about ways to help our babies exert their energy! And that task is so much fun but definitely tiring. And sometimes we can run out of ideas. So here are some extras to add to your playbook. 🙂
Give Them Positive Mental Connections To Rain
“Babies don’t understand.” Does that phrase sound familiar to you?
One of the main reasons that people don’t speak to infants about what is going on is the idea that babies don’t understand what’s happening. But I strongly encourage you to tell them what’s happening. Tell them it’s raining! Point to the rain drops descending on the window!
Our babies are always learning! Even if they aren’t quite communicating or consciously understanding the concept yet, they are always absorbing and learning.
One of my favorite things to do as an infant and toddler teacher when it is raining is open the door, put up the baby gate, and let them watch the rain. It is such a great language lesson to be able to talk to them about the rain, how it smells, what it looks like, sing some songs about it, and more.
When I ran my Montessori Baby Class, my kids loved to stand at the door in aw until it got chilly, at which point I’d close it. Some even protested the closing of the door. Haha!
Our babies are always making connections about situations in their world. Most of the time, babies will make those connections based on our reactions. For example, babies can develop an aversion to food from our concern of whether or not they will eat. They can refuse bath time from our nervous energy of whether or not they will like it. They look to us, as their trusted guides, for security within new experiences! 🙂
Well, the same concept goes for basic things like their relationship with rain. We should definitely speak highly of it, why it is good for our Earth, puddles, raindrops, and more. Yes our tiny babies may not understand the concept behind our words quite yet, but they are learning language and making mental connections about everything they encounter.
Babies will understand your language before they will communicate back to you and the more you talk the more they learn! So giving them a positive association and just talking in general is so good for their development!
Enjoy the rain, friend!