Rainy Day

It's raining, it's pouring, and everything's so boring! I did my best to beat the spring-rain-blues with a little twist on splatter painting yesterday. We dripped food coloring onto pages of cardstock.

Then I sent my cabin-feverish child out into the elements to watch it splatter. This took about 1.2 seconds. Seriously, if I do this again I'll wait until it's sprinkling. Our steady downpour turned the painting from perfect-splatters to a muddy mess in seconds.

After the painting dried it was begging for a little embellishment. I printed out this free printable from Sarah Jane Studios and cut out the pieces. Then E glued them onto her painting

I didn't have the paper doll the printable was designed for, so I printed out a picture of E and added her head to the picture.

Then I asked my little rhyme-time-lover to compose a poem for the occasion.

Not too shabby! Although in all fairness, my husband suggested "pet" as an appropriate rhyme. E had originally said something about "making you sweat". :)

Rainy Day Books

Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain by Verna Aardema

I reviewed this book almost a year ago, and it's worth another mention. This was one of my favorites as a child and remains a popular one in our house. As a kid, I loved the language and repetition. As a mom, I love that it exposes my kids to places and people different from themselves. Check it out from the library and see if it isn't one you'd want to add to your home collection.



It's Mine! by Leo Lionni

This is a good one if your kids are starting to get cranky stuck inside together. Three quarrelsome frogs fight over everything, each claiming the earth, the water, the air for themselves. A large toad scolds them but with no effect until a huge rainstorm swallows up their little island. The three frogs cling to each other and a lone rock, surviving the storm. When the sky clears they realize the rock is actually that wise toad. Having learned their lesson, they enjoy the bounties of the pond together.




Raindrop, Plop! by Wendy Cheyette Lewison

And for the toddlers out there, here's a rainy day themed counting book just right for little ones. I'm not usually a fan of most counting books, but this one really is adorable. The rhymes are sweet and the illustrations are so cheery, they almost make you glad it's raining outside! A cheered at nearly every page, which is high praise from a toddler.

BTW - I dare you to read this book and not want to buy your daughter her own pair of little froggy boots!



So what favorite rainy day books have I missed?