36 Solo-Parenting Ideas for Expat Moms (Bad Weather Edition)
Are you an Expat Mom who often finds herself solo-parenting, while your partner is working long working hours or traveling?
This is an all too common scenario in many expat families, leaving the woman in charge of the kids most of the time: throughout their daily lives, during the holidays, or maybe due to recent developments like schools closing due to the pandemic.
Back home, you may have had a larger support system, made up of grandparents, siblings and close friends with children to have playdates with. But this just might not (yet) be the case at your current destination.
I personally can come up with plans and excursions when the weather is nice… but where I live, it rains a lot. The weather is not always on a solo-parent’s side: depending on where you’re based, it may be too cold, too hot, too polluted…. etc to go outside. If your kids are anything like mine, spending a whole weekend indoors will end with everyone being exhausted, annoyed and in a bad mood!
So I have collected 36 incredible tips that I’ve received from other solo-parenting expat moms and I want to share them with you so that you can be fully prepared for your next solo-parenting experience!
Things to do with your kids abroad (indoors):
- Visit an indoor playground
- Go to the swimming pool
- Play Bakery: bake cakes, muffins, cookies and then decorate them
- Move furniture to build a home gym and play gym class
- Play card or board games
- Go to a shopping mall
- Visit a car dealership and look at cars
- Allocate cushions on the floor and jump around
- Build a cave (with help of tables, chairs, drying racks, cushions, blankets. Then put in a torch, books or audiobooks and snacks for them to play in it
- Theater performance: make Flyers and tickets and then perform
- Read books or invent stories
- Games like: „I spy with my little eye…“, guessing people etc
- Drawing, painting and coloring
- Make slime or salt dough for modeling (2 cups of flour, 1 cup of water and 1 cup of salt)
- Have a picnic on the floor
- Take a wool knuckle, pass it around and create a big spider web. Then have the kids climb through (without touching the web)
- Put on a raincoat and boots and jump in muddy puddles
- Build a Lego- / Playmobil- / Brio world
- Play dress up, paint their faces
- Crafts (cutting, gluing, coloring….) Then put the works of art in a frame – and you have a great gift for grandma!
- Visit a museum
- Movie afternoon: have the kids help you make a Pizza or Popcorn, then watch a family movie with them
- Go to the movie theater (you can limit screen time tomorrow)
- Paint stones
- Organize the toys together – they may find some they thought they’d lost or haven’t played with in a while. The toys they don’t use anymore could be given to charity.
- Make seasonal decor and decorate the house (e.g. paint Easter eggs, make Christmas wreaths, paper flowers etc)
- Turn the hallway into a bowling aisle: play bowling with empty bottles or Tupperware
- Form figures, food, animals etc with Play Doh – and then sell them in your ‘little shop’
- Carry out age-appropriate experiments (e.g. what floats / what sinks in water? A baking soda / vinegar volcano…)
- Sensory Play with shaving foam – you can even add food coloring!
- Play party games: Pass the parcle, sleeping lion, a treasure hunt around your home, musical statues etc
- Out of large and empty (moving) boxes, create a playhouse – cut out windows and doors, then paint it.
- Body Painting
And don’t forget:
34. Grant yourself small breaks in between to drink your cup of coffee or even one glass of wine 😉
35. Get a babysitter to recharge your batteries for a few hours
36. Treat yourself afterwards! (yes, we know reward systems are inherently flawed, but I think there’s nothing wrong with getting yourself a little gift and thank yourself for being such a #superwoman 😉 because as Solo-Parenting Expat Moms, we really, REALLY are! 😀 )
Further Resources for Solo-Parenting Expat Moms
Listen to my Podcast Episodes:
I’d like to thank all of the Expat Moms who have contributed to this list again!
What would you add? Let us know in the comments below!
Know someone who would benefit from this list? Then please share this blog post with them!
PS: Sometimes the weight on your shoulder can get a bit much…. I feel you. Let’s talk about it in a complimentary consultation I’m offering – click below to book your call:
trust in your future abroad
Thank you ever so for you article post.
Thank you ever so for you article post.
Like!! Really appreciate you sharing this blog post.Really thank you! Keep writing.