Rainy With a Chance of Fun

Go for rainy day adventures in style with an umbrella designed by you and your kids! You’ll need a nylon umbrella in a solid color, waterproof craft paint, and either paintbrushes or sponges. Then you can either paint freehand, or create a stencil by placing strips of painter's tape on wax paper and using craft punches to create a pattern. Then peel the wax paper from the tape, stick to the umbrella and get started painting. Let dry completely before closing or using.

If you have a small pond near your home, rainy spring days are the perfect time to go searching for tadpoles. Just bring a container to house your swimming friends and some small goldfish nets (optional) for catching them. Fill the container with pond water, and look for tadpoles in the shallow water. If you plan on bringing them home to watch them grow into frogs, be sure to look online for feeding and care instructions.

When you are finished jumping in puddles, use them to make bubbles! Simply squirt a little all-natural dish soap into a small pool of water and blow into it using a straw. Just be sure to let the kids know not to suck on the straw!

Help your budding artist use raindrops to make an abstract painting. Have your child spray craft ink or sprinkle powdered tempera paint onto a canvas. Then leave it out, and let nature take its course. Once your child is happy with the results, bring it in to dry!

MORE: Fun Crafting for When Cold Weather Keeps Your Kids Indoors

Before going out in the rain, make a few rain sticks using a paper towel tube, 1-inch nails, plastic beads (or rice or dried beans), small squares of paper and masking or duct tape. Push the nails about 1/2 of an inch apart into the seam of a cardboard tube. Then cover one end of the tube with a piece of paper, and tape in place. Fill 1/4 of the tube with beads and close the open end with paper and tape. Decorate the rest of the tube with tape (or markers) and then head outside to do a rain dance!

Send the kids outside with a flashlight and white piece of card stock paper, and challenge them to make a rainbow by reflecting the light off of water and onto the paper. It’s fun and should keep them busy for a bit, but is also pretty tricky, so be prepared to make one indoors when they are finished. You can do this by shining a flashlight through a glass of water, onto the white paper.

Give your tubby toys and water crayons a little change of scenery by bringing them outside to play with in the rain!

If the weather is warm enough, embrace the rain as nature’s sprinkler and get geared up for a water fight! Think squirt guns, water balloons and Slip 'n Slides. Oh, yes. Slip 'n Slides are a ton of fun in the rain.

MORE: Messy Projects for Outdoor Summer Fun

This is another one of those activities that we do in dry weather, but is extra fun on a wet surface. The chalk colors are more vibrant and have a paint-like consistency. Try tracing each others' silhouettes, drawing a hop scotch or making a twister board!