This week’s WFMW is not some new-fangled idea I thought up and just had to share…it’s really a hodge-podge of fun little activities we’ve enjoyed here at our house….on cold days, rainy days, or just “I’m bored” days.

# 1 - Make Cheerio bird feeders. All you need is a bowl full of dry Cheerios and a pipe cleaner. Not just a fun diversion….this actually strengthens hand-eye coordination skills. (Rainey’s at the stage where she loves to put things in, on, etc.)

When you’re done, simply bend the pipe cleaner around a branch and voila.

# 2 - Build a couch cushion fort. I know there are so many ways to make forts, but this is our standby and our son’s favorite. It’s sturdy. It’s relatively soundproof. And it’s easy to clean up.

# 3 - Go for a walk. My kids are getting a little bigger now, so one is not in a stroller anymore, and the other doesn’t really want to be most days (therefore making this activity a bit more challenging than it used to be). But G and I used to walk nearly every single afternoon to fill in the “lull hours” between 3-5pm. We would take fun photos of nature, gather wildflowers, or stop by to visit friends. And hey, it helps us get into shape, too….a nice bonus.

# 4 - Paint with Water. No kidding. It really does keep them occupied for minutes on end. I remember doing this as a kid on the sidewalks in front of our seminary apartments. And to add to their amazement: Try showing them how sidewalk chalk colors are intensified when you draw on the wet pavement.

# 5 - Visit your local airport. Any little aviation enthusiast will enjoy this outing. Most airports have nice viewing areas where you can watch planes take off and land.

# 6 - Make a pot & pan band. Take advantage of cleaning out/rearranging your cabinets to let the kids create a noisy band with your (not the nicest of your collections) pots and pans and some whisks & wooden spoons. My mom used to tell me about a childhood memory of hers where she stuck pot handles in a kitchen drawer and pretended it was a salon-style blow dryer.

# 7 - Have a birthday party for your little ones’ little ones. You know you have those cake mixes in your pantry…you know…the ones that were half off plus a coupon which made them twenty-nine or so cents a piece. Why not use one to create a special day for your child’s stuffed animals? After all, they have a birthday, too.

# 8 - Box imaginative play. I remember doing this, too….once my sister and I completely “wallpapered” the inside of a refrigerator box with flowered contact paper. I think this one was intended to be a house with a garage door as the main entrance.

# 9 - Make muffins. (or any simple baked goody.) My little ones adore helping me bake. The only problem lies in what to do with all of the sugary sweets that we turn out of our kitchen!

# 10 - Give your child a camera (digital or film) and let him/her go. You’ll be amazed (and tickled) at the results. Here are some examples of what we’ve found on our memory card, left behind by our little photographer-in-training:

Check out other great WFMW ideas over at Rocks in My Dryer!