What to Do With a Kid on a Rainy Day

First things first — Happy New Year, everybody. I hope your 2022 was pretty good and that your 2023 will be even better.

But now, down to business — what the heck do you do with a kid on a rainy day?

Folks around the US and the world have been having some serious weather challenges. Blizzards in the US. Floods in Pakistan. Drought in Uganda.

But here in California we have been having what we consider to be wonderful weather — day after day after day of drought-breaking rain. We are happily having the wettest year end weather in decades. (In some places it’s a little too wet, of course, trees are falling down and highways are flooded.)

More rain is forecast for the coming weeks, so — what to do with a kid on a rainy day?

• Venture out into to the rain to the nearest supermarket. Buy a head of red cabbage. (You’ll know it’s a red cabbage because it’s purple.) Bring it home to your nice warm kitchen. Boil the cabbage. Use the purple juice for messy and totally fun science experiments.
• Head over to Berkeley to Brush Strokes for a rainy afternoon of painting pottery with glazes to be kiln fired right on site. Come by later to pick up your finished art work. If you don’t live near Berkeley, do an online search for “pottery painting near me” and see what happens.

• Get your cat fix without the bother of taking on pet ownership. Spend an hour at Oakland’s Cat Town. Pet the cats. Play with the cats. Seriously, there are cat cafes all over the country, where cats in need of homes are cared for and the healthy ones are kept in luxurious lounging rooms where you can make a reservation to come pay a visit. If Oakland is not near you, do a search for “cat cafes.”
• If your kid is 12 or older and you have a small group of people, consider an escape room. Spend an hour following clues that release you from one room to the next until you have figured out how to beat the clock and escape the room. Really fun stuff.

We Californians will be having a couple more weeks of rain. So — got any suggestions for what to do with a kid on a rainy day? Share them below.

Wishing you a great new year with all the sun and rain you need.

More rain at “In My Rain-Battered Garden — Nothing Is Forever.”