Wet Feb half term activities

Depends upon ages of GC but in the past we have created an indoor Treasure Hunt - give them the first clue which leads them to somewhere like Granddad's slipper - there they find the next clue to send them to where they find the next etc.
Depending on age etc. clues can be found in 'less obvious' places like inside the fridge!!!
Colouring books always good and we have a large stock of board games that I've bought from charity shops! Snakes and Ladders, Ludo, Bingo etc. don't take too long - our 10yr old has the attention span of a gnat!!!
Like I say it depends upon the ages of the children and also age gaps can be tricky so I wish you good luck!!!

Baking and decorating what they have made - gingerbread men are always popular, pizzas on buns - everyone makes their own topping.
Painting and board games. You don’t have to be able to paint yourself.
Go to Poundland, The Works or Hobbycraft and see what they have - they usually have craft kits.
Plant seeds in pots
Dressing up, putting on a show

swimming?
cinema?
Make a Tik Tok video

My favourite “stuck indoors” fun with my 2 youngest grandchildren age 7 and 6 is making a campsite in the livingroom using bedsheets, old curtains etc draped between chairs. I make a sandwich lunch and they love eating it in the tent. It’ll look like Greenham Common peace camp for a few days!

I’m looking forward to them staying for a few days next week. I’ve already saved up some cardboard boxes along with various bits and bobs to glue on them. They’ll enjoy painting on them and modelling them into something creative. They also love sitting at the kitchen table with water paints and some white dinner plates and they paint designs on them. They take photos of their artwork on the iPad before we wash them clean at the end of the day.

I bought some pipe cleaners in Home bargains and a couple of poundland books. I've also got some face paints to keep them amused (a 5 year old girl and an 8 year old boy - with Down syndrome). They would both love a softplay centre as well.

Salt dough is good for all ages, they can make it themselves if old enough. When finished there will be a lovely ornament to take home.

If any teenagers are reading this, there’s always the fun of posting spoof trolling threads on Gransnet to try to shock the old dears.
I think one or two might have started already

Hobbycraft had a 50% sale, I didn't look as it was a quick dash in and out today to buy yarn but there could be craft kits, ornaments to paint etc

I'm planning to enlist a few ideas from Blue Peter of old if the weather goes against me. All sort of different shape, colour and textured packaging combined with scissors, sellotape and felt tips for model making. We also have a lovely tea and theatre (bedknobs & broomsticks) outing planned which I 'm really looking forward to.

If your near a Ikea they have a cardboard village to make which can then be painted or coloured in they also do good paint sets. Pound land or similar for loads of crafty things, baking.
If their anything like mine they’ll just want to play role play all day, shops, holidays, schools, hairdressers etc.they have the most amazing imagination! Hopefully it’ll be dry and you can get out and about. Have a lovely time .

A few:

1. Second Poundland. LOADS of great stuff to be had for cheap.

2. Also agree with tents and forts. If you don't have a proper tent, blankets will do nicely.

3. A pack of cards and maybe a cribbage board. Children don't have to be very old to understand simple card games. My mum used to have a book titled 365 TV-Free Activities to Do With Your Child. One of them was inventing a card game. The book said not to be surprised if your child plays a two-suit stomp on your last discard, picks up all the black cards, and says "Bingo"

Some card games, such as cribbage, cheat, poker, war, and hearts, can also introduce children to concepts of strategy, counting, and probability. (If you don't like the idea of gambling, you don't have to use actual poker chips or real money. My brothers used to use the tabs that came off cans of fizzy drinks.)

I saw that yesterday MayBeMaw and was truly shocked.

There are some good ideas on here. I’ll have my 7 year old GS for two days. He has autism so it can be a challenge to engage him sometimes. We are always up for ideas and this thread is very helpful.

The weather always looks worse from the inside. Make sure they have wellies with them and go out anyway. If you want to avoid contact with others, go to a large park or petting zoo, to avoid swings and slides, if you are worried about them touching equipment that others have used.

Failing that, swimming, as suggested above, is a very good idea for wet weather. Swimming pools should have strict hygiene regulations.

What do the parents think, or do you have completely free rein?

Have a look at Hobbycraft. Lots of ideas and downloads on there that are free.

Loads of great ideas here, but any suggestions for toddlers? My little 20 month gd loves the outside but in the pouring rain??

Camping and cooking Both take hours.
And probably too late for this holiday but cardboard, scissors, glue, and paint.

Shop in The Works, either in person or online. They have so many things to do packs. Many things in the Sale.

Kimski44

Loads of great ideas here, but any suggestions for toddlers? My little 20 month gd loves the outside but in the pouring rain??

Sorry, my answer was to the OP. But I'd still go with indoor camping with a toddler.

Baker Ross have a lot of cheap simple craft kits and raw materials. They have a sale on at the moment! www.bakerross.co.uk
No, I am not on commission - no connection with them at all, but I used to get stuff from them when my children were small, and they are still a dependable site (and quick and free to deliver). Good for very cheap stocking fillers too.

Nice to read all your comments, my gd. Is 21 now but remember doing so many of the things you put on here when she was little. We have a game which she loved and I have always kept it, it’s called WOT, a maths game which helped her with her maths when she was little.
Enjoy your half terms.

We are busy making a Valentine card for mummy at the moment. It’s a shame about the weather as we could be getting ready to get veg seeds into pots but have no walk in greenhouse and it’s blowing a gale. Making a den is a favourite and then reading in there on a pile of cushions with a lantern torch. I’m not sure of treasure hunts. I have spent hours on rhyming clues only to have the children race round the house or garden and it’s all over in 5 minutes. We enjoy scrabble, boggle, qcqrd games, upwords and mastermind and sometimes a jigsaw puzzle which is likely to take all week on and off. If it’s dry then warm clothes and wellies and off to the park to hunt for fungi and make a den of broken branches. I don’t like to go in a high wind though as falling branches are a risk in our very old park. We even like walking the local streets spotting interesting brickwork, gardens and people’s front rooms! I don’t like children to be on iPads but we do watch nature programmes a lot on the TV and word games like countdown and lingo. My grandchildren are now all over 6 so it’s easy to keep them engaged. No naps to worry about or short attention spans. They help with making meals too.

As an alternative to playdough/salt dough, a sheet or block of ready made pastry can be played with in the same way, then cooked and eaten ?

Hide and seek using a small toy, or a collection of small toys eg cars.

A mirror each and some makeup... Old necklaces and scarves.

???

If you don't mind a bit of mess. Papier mache /painting/salt dough bakes/real bakes! Little ones love creating for themselves and making play food and characters from air dry clay like DAS is brilliant. They can be speed dried in mid oven too .their own scones/fairy cakes too. Good luck?