It's Raining: Charlotte-Area Rainy Day Family Acitivities

Load ’em up and pack an umbrella. Just because it’s raining doesn’t mean you have to stay locked up in the house. There’s only so much crafting and Sesame Street one mom can handle. You may have had plans for a picnic at the park, but there are other just as fun things that you can do with the kiddo’s and burn as much steam. If it’s raining, too cold, too hot, or any other condition that Goldilocks may suffer from, here’s where you’ll find me and my crew:

1. Open Play at Superior Play Systems: If running of energy is your modus operandi, then Superior Play Systems is your place. Between the hours of 10 am and 1 pm on Wednesdays and Fridays, their sales floor is your giant indoor playground and even better… it’s free!! Trampolines, slides, swings, and more. For the address and additional details, visit: http://www.superiorplay.com/t-open%20play.aspx

2. The Nature Museum: The Nature Museum is the smaller cousin of Discovery Place and Discovery Place Kids, but it has it’s charm, and for the little kids, it’s just pure gold. It’s a small museum, with various rooms for tots to explore, scheduled storytimes and puppet shows, live animals, a butterfly room, and play room with tunnels, and water and sand play. Non Discovery Place members are charged $6/per person. For additional details including hours and location, visit: http://www.charlottenaturemuseum.org/

3. Hickory Grove or Berwick Rec Centers: When I became a parent, I became a fan of the CharMeck Rec Centers. For $1 per kid, it’s one of the best deals in town. The huge play room is stocked with toys for kids in the five and under age range. They could spend hours there, and when your kids are spending hours playing without you needing to entertain, that ain’t bad.

For more information visit:

Hickory Grove Rec Center details

Berwick Rec Center details

4. Imaginon: My kids never get tired of visiting Imaginon. Whether for storytime, a trip to the theater, or just to play and check out books, you’ll be able to kill some serious time at this mega-kids library. Visitors can park for free in the garage below the library for 90 minutes, so don’t fret about parking fees. If you wanna grab a bite to eat, the 7th Street Public Market and Brixx are both across the street. And yes, that’s my Graham-ster circa Spring 2009.

5. Chick-fil-A Playground: Chick-fil-A is pretty empty around 10:30 am or 2 pm, the big “play times” for young kids. That’s the time to hit up your local Chick-fil-A. Turn the little ones loose in the play area, and grab a drink and a book. French fries afterwards for kids that can play without needing mom for 20 mintues! 🙂 Use this locator to find Chick-fil-A’s in your neighborhood with a play area.

6. The Garage: When you just can’t get out of the house, but you just can’t stay inside anymore either… pull the cars out the garage and set up some messy play. Lay out a tarp if you’re worried about protecting your garage floor and pull out some craft supplies.

Here are some fun rainy day Garage-Play ideas I pulled from pinterest:

Cloud Dough

Goop & Ice

Finger/Whole Body Painting