There are two seasons in the Philippines: summer and rainy season. Rainy season is a real thing and it lasts for a few months. The eternal sunshine and warmth of the Philippines keeps me smiling but I don't mind a sprinkle of gray days every now and then. It's a little reminder of our few years spent in Seattle. 

Rainy season offers a buffet of weather calamities from typhoons to flooding. This means schools are cancelled, roads closed (trapik!) and appointments rescheduled. What this also means is a lot of time spent in doors. 

Here are five activities to help you survive a day indoors:

1|Recylce crayons

Oldest trick in the book however, first time I actually made them was this year! This combines a number of kid friendly steps to get keep them engaged for a whole morning. Start by working those fine motor skills and have your kids peel the crayons and break them into smaller pieces. You color coordinate if you wish and then place desired crayons in silicone molds or muffin tins. We got our Star Wars mold from Rita's Gifts at Greenhills. Bake at 65 C or 150 F for 15-20 minutes. Let cool completely and remove from mold. MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU. 

2|envelopes by the hour

Searching for a magic trick to entrance your kids all day? Look no further. Grab a number of envelopes and label them by the hour, inside put an activity for each hour. On each hour let the kids open an envelope and stay busy with the suggested activity. For an added bonus have a theme for the day. For example dinosaurs (books, painting, coloring, show etc), building (Lego, forts, blocks, magformers) or art (painting, sculpting, sewing) to name a few. You'd be surprised how an old toy or game will regain it's luster with the help of these suspenseful envelopes.  

3|Make a TASTY VIDEO

Our household is really into Tasty Videos at the moment. We love making our own and it is surprisingly easy. You just need a tripod or some way to stabilize your phone and good lighting. Record the video in time lapse mode, import to iMovie and voila! This is a great way to get kids involved in the kitchen by choosing the recipe, hands on cooking and helping with clean up. Throw in the technology aspect by letting them edit the movie and you have knocked out an entire morning. *Our favorite Tasty accounts are Tasty Junior, Tasty Japan and Tasty Buzzfeed. 

4|OVERSIZE PLAYMATS

This mom hack I stumbled upon thanks to my awesomely nerdy husband. He had these tarpaulins printed for a Star Wars board game he plays (next level, huh?) and when the kids and I found them we turned them into the perfect play mat. The trick to having a crisp and clean image is how you search for an image. In Google images click the menu for 'advanced search' and choose a size larger than 30 MP+. Some other ideas that would be perfect for these play mats are Radiator Springs from Cars, Peppa Pig, Thomas The Train etc. Lucky for us Manila dwellers, tarpaulin print shops are a dime a dozen and these only cost 200php a piece.  

5| PLAY WITH LETTER BOARDS

Letter boards are super trendy right now and for good reason, they are adorable! More than that, they are a great way for kids to practice spelling and writing skills without actually holding a pencil. I let Aaker play with mine one morning and I was shocked at how long this sustained his attention. You could add in a bit of technology for them by doing a stop motion similar to this one. *You can buy letter boards locally through Lettergram Ph. 

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

• Subscribe to a play box. Some local options are Crated Memories and Oli's Boxship. 
• Build a fort!  
• Make play dough! Add some essential oils for aroma-play. 
• Listen to children's podcasts or audio books. Do you listen to podcasts? I would love to learn of more kid friendly podcasts, please leave in the comments. Some of our current favorites are Story Pirates and This American Kid. Itunes and Spotify also have children's stories available. 

SERVICE OPPORTUNITY

I don't want to gloss over how difficult life can be for so many during these times of harsh weather. Homes are lost, families are displaced and some even lose loved ones. For those of us fortunate enough to remain mostly unaffected, we can use this opportunity to create care packs or volunteer our time and resources helping others. Some easy ideas for service at home are preparing hygiene kits with left-over hotel shampoos and soaps, organizing clothes and toys for donation, making rice bags or having canton noodles in the car ready to hand out. You can get in touch with local organizations such as Gawad Kalinga or DSWD to find out specific needs. This is also a great teaching opportunity and something you can do as a family.