10 things to do on a rainy day

When you live in a tropical Paradise, it might not occur to you that rainy days happen, but they do and the CENTURY 21 Cayman lifestyle team has come up with 10 things to do on a rainy day so you don’t get the rainy day blues.

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The Cayman Islands’ rainy season coincides with hurricane season, which begins June 1st, and ends November 30th. Old wives and seaman say it always rains the first week in June for several days. As far as we can tell, that long time wisdom holds true. You can plan on at least a few good days of soaking rain during the last week in May and the first week in June. So what to do on those rain soaked days?

Sure, you can go to the movies, or you could stay home and binge watch your favorite shows on Netflix, or even curl up with a good book or magazine. Still, those are pretty yawn inducing ways to spend your time. Not to worry! The CENTURY 21 Cayman lifestyle team is here to rescue you with a list of 10 things to do on a rainy day. Whether you are looking for activities for adults, children, or both, here are some great activities to try:>

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Hold a treasure hunt

this is a great activity for all ages and can be prepared well in advance of rainy season so all you have to do is wait for a rainy day and let the fun begin. Prepare your treasure hunt kit by creating your clues and putting them into numbered envelopes. Remember to keep your clues age appropriate. You may want to create a few sets of clues in case you have children or there is going to be a mixture of ages. The numbered envelopes help everyone keep track of how long before the treasure is discovered. Your treasure can be anything from a small toy or gift certificates for dining and activities. The great thing about treasure hunts is you can pre-do the kit and when the rain arrives, just round up your friends and family and you're good to go for a fun rainy day activity.

Host a recipe competition

this is a fun activity for your foodie friends or just to do with the family. Choose a theme, maybe it’s lunch, snacks, salads, breakfast casseroles, or a cuisine type, say Italian, or local food. You can choose whether the guests prepare their recipes in their own kitchens or everyone arrives at your place and you share the kitchen. Everyone samples and votes for their favorite recipe (no fair voting for your own even if it is spectacular). The recipe with the most votes gets a prize and bragging rights.

Host a Home Spa day

this is perfect for women and girls of all ages and is reminiscent of slumber party fun. Again, you can prepare this rainy day activity well in advance. Find a fun and bright basket and fill it with travel sized facial and hair products and samples of makeup. Don’t forget hair accessories like headbands, decorative pins and barrettes. Add a variety of colors of nail polish, polish remover and cotton pads. Be sure to include cuticle sticks and emery boards as well as hand and foot lotions. Take turns giving each other facials and new hairdos, as well as, manicures and pedicures. If younger girls are participating, be sure to have a plastic table cloth or tarp so that any accidental spills are easily cleaned up.

Hold a Pizza Competition

What can we say, here at CENTURY 21 Cayman we are foodies and we love our pizza. This activity may require you to make a mad dash to the grocery store, but it will be worth it. You’ll find ready-made pizza dough and crust in the refrigerator sections of your favorite supermarket. Gather plenty of pizza sauce, Alfredo sauce, pesto sauce, and favorite toppings like pepperoni, mushrooms, peppers, chicken strips, Canadian bacon, the list is endless. Disposable pizza pans or sheet pans make cleanup easy and allow for everyone to have a go at making their favorite pizza. Hand out slices and everyone gets to vote for their favorite. The winner takes home bragging rights and how about a cheesy (oh dear did we say that) trophy like a pizza magnet!

Go Camping Indoors

This is a fun activity for families. If you have a tent, bring it out and set it up in the living room. Gather up some of your hurricane supplies like battery operated lanterns and flashlights (remember to replace the batteries after this activity). If you don’t have a tent, then make do with sheets draped between sofas and chairs. Put down air mattresses, sleeping bags, lots of pillows and pile into your fort. Tell favorite stories, and don’t forget to have s’mores ingredients on hand (stash these away in your hurricane kit along with your lanterns and flashlights). Just to make it extra fun, be sure to include a picnic basket filled with your favorite picnic food.

Have Game Day Fun

No we don't mean big league sports TV game day fun. We mean being a bit more creative. The great thing about this activity is there is very little cost involved and you can tailor it for any audience. Most people have board games at home. If you don’t, then stock up on some. Scrabble and Monopoly are good ones to start with. If you have younger children, download some pass and play games for them to play on a tablet and the adults can sit at the dining table playing their version and the little ones on the floor playing their version. Add some creativity to your game day fun. Start with Build a Story – As the host or hostess you begin the game with, “Once upon a time…” then go around the room with each person adding either one word or one sentence to the story. Be sure to decide on your genre ahead of time, such as ghost story, fairy tale or mystery. Don’t forget to record the storytelling as you go along so you can play the story back. Not in the mood for storytelling? Try something that is far more challenging, impromptu poetry. Yep we said poetry. Again, one person starts by providing one line. The next person has to provide another line that rhymes. The game ends when a person can’t make the next line rhyme.

Finally, let's not forget charades. You can create your charade bag well in advance. When that rainy day comes rolling in, grab that charade bag and let the laughter begin.

Do a Clothing Exchange

Let’s face it, all of us can do with cleaning out our closets. Gather up all of the clothes you haven’t worn in ages that you know you won’t be wearing for whatever reason. Don’t forget handbags, belts, shoes and other accessories. Once all of your guests arrive, draw numbers out of a bag to see in what order each person gets to “shop for clothing and accessories”. Once everyone is done, gather up all the leftover items and bag them to be taken to a favorite charity. This is a fantastic activity where everyone winds up with fresh items in their wardrobe and the community benefits as well from any donations.

Have a Cocktail Competition

Prepare for this activity in advance. Get a sturdy container to put all of your supplies in. Gather up cocktail shakers, stirrers, strainers, shot glasses and glassware. Then spend an evening checking the internet for cocktails from the 1920’s 30’s 40’s 50’s 60’s, 70’s 80’s 90’s up to present day. Pick one or two of the most popular cocktails from each decade and write out the recipes. Next it’s a trip to your local liquor store and grocery store for non-perishable supplies. Stash all the supplies away in your cocktail competition kit until a rainy day. When your friends arrive, have them each pull one of the recipes from a bag. Set out the supplies and let the mixology madness begin! After each recipe is made, everyone takes a sip or two and votes (no fair voting for your own recipe). The winner gets to have bragging rights and maybe a kitschy trophy to display. Be sure to have plenty of snacks on hand for this one and have plenty of non-alcoholic bevvies on hand for friends who don’t drink. This can easily be adapted to a favorite smoothie competition for a healthy non-alcohol alternative.

Bubble Bath and Massage for Two

A rainy afternoon is perfect downtime if it is just the two of you. Contact your favorite Aromatherapist ahead of time and have a custom massage oil blend made up. Check out YouTube for tips on how to do a massage (no it’s not quite that easy to do professional level massage, but you will learn enough to make for some relaxing time with one another). Start with a bubble bath. If you don’t have a bath tub, that’s okay, plenty of bubbles can be found in the shower with the right shower gel and a partner to scrub your back. Next, flip a coin for who gets to receive the first massage. Set a timer so that each person gets the same amount of time. Afterwards, snuggle up on the sofa or in a cozy bed. What you do with the rest of your afternoon is none of our business.

Host a Housecleaning Party

Yes, you read that correctly. A housecleaning party can be a great competition that can be rotated through your group of friends. This is a competition because each chore is assigned a point value. Dusting may be worth 1 point or 10 (depending on how many surfaces and knickknacks there are to be dusted), whereas cleaning the toilets and scrubbing the tub, definitely rank high on the point list. This is a great opportunity to do cleaning in areas many people forget about, such as floorboards, behind the fridge and washer and dryer, cabinets etc. You can pull your cleaning competition kit together ahead of time to ensure everyone has all of the supplies they need. You can either let people choose the chores they want to do or you can have them draw chores randomly. Once a person completes one chore, they can draw for another chore. Before you know it, your house will be amazingly clean and the friend with the most points gets bragging rights and a gift certificate for lunch or dinner somewhere, for a spa service or for the movies. Be sure to have plenty of snacks and nibbles, as well as, beverages on hand. The next rainy day be prepared to enter the competition at one of your friend’s house. You can even make this an annual event to see who gets to keep the housekeeping trophy!

Now that we’ve got your imagination working on how to have some fun on a rainy day in paradise, we would love to hear from you on some of your ideas. Or, share your pictures doing one of the above activities.