Hello again at last, after an uncharacteristic hiatus; we’ve been a plague house this last couple of weeks, with both my husband and I felled by seasonal ‘flu. Harry miraculously escaped, and observed our symptoms and progress with great interest; he immediately and opportunistically whipped out his Melissa & Doug Veterinary Dress-Up Bag, and proceeded to administer bandages, injections and chilly plastic stethscopes to whichever of us was too slow to evade his latex gloved-clutches.
Still, the fevers have at last abated, leaving us feeling a little stir-crazy and restless, particularly as last month’s glorious snowfalls have been replaced by driving rain and an all-pervading damp chilliness. It was time for some indoor adventuring, in the style of a housebound Indiana Jones, so last night whilst Harry was asleep I hastily constructed the Rainy Day Indoor Expedition Kit…
I used this old cardboard laundry box (below) which I found at a local junk shop. A vintage suitcase would also be brilliant for this, but equally a large shoebox or bag would do the job. I designed a suitably enticing picture for the front (you can download mine below), and pasted it on before filling it with a collection of bits and bobs from around the house that would spark Harry’s imagination and get us started on a truly exciting and brave indoor adventure.
Almost all of the items can be sourced within minutes – and quickly returned to their usual homes afterwards. A quick raid of the laundry cupboard, fridge, and Harry’s toybox generated most of the contents. I’ve highlighted below what I included and why; you can customise this for the age(s) of your kids, and also get them to join in the planning; when Harry’s a bit older I’ll get him to decide most the things we need.
In our rainy-day expedition case you’ll find:
- A field trip notebook and pen for recording what we see
- A torch (you can teach morse code to older kids). We had battery-powered fairy lights too for our den
- Toy walkie-talkies so we can communicate when out adventuring; real ones would be even cooler
- A large white sheet to use as a tent for our den, with pegs to hold it in place.
- Books to read in our tent, when eating our snacks
- Juice and crackers. We ate these before we even started, so one of our first expeditions was back to the fridge
- A simple point-and-shoot camera for Harry to take endless blurry photos of our trip
- Hat and goggles, in the manner of all true explorers
- A sword, because you never know when you’ll meet a pirate or a baddie
- Handcuffs; see above.
- A rubber snake, for instant atmosphere; throwing this around (Harry) and screaming in faux-terror (me) took up quite a lot of the day and caused endless delight
- Marvin, Harry’s right-hand mouse and inseparable companion, and finally..
- A strong rope; we used a waxed washing line rope, mostly as a lasso for wild animals, but also to tie around our waists when climbing the stairs / dangerous mountain.
 "Pin It")
I placed the expedition suitcase on a stool for Harry to discover it at breakfast time, when we usually make our plans for the day. Once he wrestled the top off the box, he also found this mysterious ribbon-tied scroll in the case, which outlines exactly what you need to do to qualify as a proper Adventurer; this provided the basic plan for our morning…
Our den-building took quite a bit of time and was lots of fun; pondering the exact location, and discussing what we needed to consider; (ability to see pirates coming from afar, easy access to food and toys, and a multitude of other specifics). We strung, hung and pegged and bundled cushions and suitcase into the finished den, stringing up fairy lights for added atmosphere..
Harry’s toy dog Digby nobly agreed to play the role of wild animal and was duly captured and tethered to the kitchen table, with some crackers as a reward for his co-operation and acting skills.
We fended off attacks from a troop of Lego City Robbers and some Playmobil pirates before settling down to stories and juice. After lunch we discovered the promised treasure; leftover chocolate gold coins from Christmas, secreted in an old wooden box at the top of the stairs.
It was the best kind of day; just enough planning to spark Harry’s imagination, and then much adventuring, rescuing, wrestling, construction, destruction and finally chocolate, which seems to me to be the formula for little boy heaven. I’m sure versions of this game are played in homes the world over, but if you want to download our Expedition Case label and Adventurer Instructions, you can find both below.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to just go untether a dog before retiring to my den with a fistful of chocolate coins (who says you have to grow up?).
Looks like such fun!
I have two girls and wanted to make them a dollhouse… was wondering if you had any ideas or tips?
Thanks!
Oooh, now it’s at times like this I envy you having girls; I’d love to have a reason to make a dollhouse! If you’re thinking of making one completely from scratch, I’d consider using a small bookcase or shelved cupboard and adding vertical partitions to create the rooms; much easier than constructing from nothing. If you used open shelving for this and felt the lack of a door / front of house, I’d think of adding a simple roman blind that could be pulled up to reveal the house within. In terms of interiors, I’d think about making the house an exact replica of your own, with mini bedrooms which look identical to your daughters’ room(s); finding or making tiny versions of their beds, wallpaper, pictures etc, and the same with the main living rooms; there’d be something so magical about having a dollhouse home which was an Alice-in-Wonderland sized version of your real one… good luck!
Looks like you had the most exciting adventure. I really admire your imagination; you have great ideas and make them truly awesome with your creativity. Plus, you’re kind enough to share your artwork! Glad you’re feeling better. Enjoy your weekend
Hello again, glad you’ve fended off the lurgy – that in itself deserves some kind of badge! I’ve also been suffering the past 3 weeks, it’s a nasty one!
Anyway, I so enjoyed reading this post, and looking back in the last few weeks over your year of fun with Harry. You have such fabulous ideas and make it all look ridiculously simple to execute! Love this expedition kit, what a fun way to spend a day.
Looking forward to your next project!
Jones x
Thank you Jones
Here’s hoping that you’ve soldiered back to fitness over the last few days and feel a bounce in your step again. The weirdest after-effect for me was a complete distortion of taste for about a week; I had to keep eating things to check what they tasted like (I must be the only person to gain weight when sick…)
My older one loves playing “pretend houses”, so lately we’ve become pretty good at building them
It’s always huge fun and it makes me happy that a thing as simple as that can make him so happy. We always ask him what his favourite part of the day was and often he says “playing pretend houses with you”. So sweet!
Kate, what a truly wonderful Mum you are.
And Harry must be such a joy to be with.
You are hands down the most fun mother I’ve ever heard of!
Ditto what Barbara said. The grin on Harry’s face says it all.
Just lovely, what a wonderful game!
Fantastic – I want to do this with my boys. Great inspiration!
Kate i’m packing my bags and moving in to your house! I love all the ideas you come up with, I can’t wait to do all these sorts of things with my daughter. Thank you for the constant inspiration!
Ha, come on in! We’ll just extend our den a little bit
thanks for commenting and the lovely feedback
What fantastic memories Harry is going to have! Your deep love for him really shines through in all of your adventures.
Hi Kate, awesome story and adventure play. I have done this alot with my niece when she was little. I knew very quickly that i never would have kids of my own, so my little sis lend her dauther to me for a weekend. I always build with her spaces and with meters of fabric and pins we dressed her up. I think it was for both of us a fun time.
When i was a child i had such a aunt which had the same idea to enjoy kids , so it felt for me normal to doing the same for my nieces;-D
Thank you for sharing your adventure;-D
I ‘ll hope er will coming more soon for you as well;-D
You sound like the best Aunt ever… I love the idea of dressing up in fabrics and making homemade costumes; I’m sure she’ll remember this forever and hopefully – like you – carry on the tradition! thanks for taking the time to comment and say hello
Very inspirational indeed!! My son would have you as a mum any day (not only the rainy ones!!!).
Quick question: which brand are your toy walkie talkies, and are you pleased with them (i.e. good sound quality, good coverage)? I can’t seem to find any good ones for my son…
Thanks again for all your fabulous posts.
Hi Camille, thanks for stopping by! I share your pain on the walkie talkie front – Harry’s are actually just ‘pretend’ ones – Fireman Sam I think – that don’t work at all; we just hold them to our mouths and shout loudly at each other… my latest plan is to keep an eye out for a set of second-hand ‘grown up’ ones in junk shops or ex-military surplus stores / car boot sales etc… I’m thinking that buying the real thing (as cheaply as possible) is probably the answer, and will have the added kudos of not being plastic or primary coloured. Let me know if you strike lucky in the meantime though.. I’d love to track some down.
I adore two of those photos – the final tied up goggle-wearing dog (how on trend is that dog?! just check out spring Vogue). And I love the 1-12 clipped pix of what’s in the kit. It’s not just your creativity I admire, it’s the way you can then shove it up beautifully on to a computer and share it with us all too. Thank you! Nicola http://homemadekids.wordpress.com
Thanks Nicola, it’s lovely as always to hear from you. And you made my day; accidental styling in the manner of Vogue, no less! I’m obviously in the wrong job
Kate you aren’t allowed to get sick. No doing that again ok?
This is a much better activity than me saying “Hey here are your snowsuits, go play in the snow…”
Alex, you make me smile every time – and yay, you have snow at last! (Though I bet you’re completely sick of it by now, right?). Horizontal driving sleet at this end; not an ounce of romance to it, just an astonishing ability to penetrate every single nook and cranny of waterproof clothing and find a way of chilling you to the core. Roll on Springtime…
This is so beautiful! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Harry is one lucky kid! I think he will grow up to be an amazing adult because his childhood was so rich and creative
Love this!! I’m bookmarking it for when my two are a tad bit older! Such a great idea!!
I feel just like Alex (a little above in the comments) : you aren’t allowed to get sick anymore !!!
This kit is a great idea. Once more !
I hope the flu is away from you now.
Audrey
Thanks Audrey; lovely to hear from you again… I hope that you and your son have had a little snow to play in this winter, and not just rain and chills..
What a fantastic idea we’re also in the house of sick as well seems to be the season for it. I love the idea for the indoor explorer kit and will be sharing this in the week on my facebook page http://www.facebook.com/rainydaymum if that is alright with you?
Of course Cerys!, thanks for checking… I hope your household swings back into action soon; I’m definitely pting for ‘flu shots next year – anything to beat the seasonal bugs!
This is such a cute idea! Love the photo of the captured doggy.
This is genious. Side note about a dollhouse. I have a son only and when he was young my mother had a doll house constructed for him that looks like a castle. We filled it with knights and gold store rooms and lots of princely stuff. Jo @ Let’s Face the Music
Now that’s an excellent idea…… hmmm *mind starts ticking over* – thank you!
What a great idea – I’m totally inspired and can’t wait to do this with mine! On a side note – I live near Cranmore Lane, Aldershot!
Firstly, sorry to hear you’ve all been ill, how rubbish. I hope you and yours and now all back to full health! Second – this is genius! Only you could make something creative out of the flu, Kate! Rainy day perfection. We always resort to indoor den building here on rainy days – a few blankets and a clothes horse and everyone is happy!
Gillian x