It’s finally feeling like summer and Allie and I have already been so busy with our summer adventures. But when you live in a state where you have endless outdoor activities in the palm of your hand, it can be tough to find something to do when the weather just doesn’t cooperate. And lately, the weather has been quite rainy and chilly here in the Greater Portland, Maine area. So we’re in desperate need of some rainy day activities for toddlers.
A couple of weeks ago, I had taken a child I work with to L.L. Bean (he loves walking around places) and the more we wandered, the more I realized just how kid-friendly L.L. Bean is. I would assume all their locations are very similar, but we’re fortunate to live just 25 minutes from L.L. Bean’s flagship store in Freeport, Maine and have access to so many fun activities all year-round. So here are 10 rainy day activities for toddlers you can do at L.L. Bean!
Grab a coffee
First and foremost, be sure to grab yourself a cup of coffee from Coffee by Design! This is easily one of my favorite coffee shops here in Maine so I always make sure to grab an iced latte prior to starting our adventures inside. They also have some yummy snacks and treats for the whole family so I’ll sometimes grab Allie a chocolate milk or a cookie of some sort. They also have really yummy breakfast sandwiches and baked goods. So this is always our first stop when visiting L.L. Bean.
View fish in the aquarium
After we have our coffee and snacks, the next stop on our L.L. Bean tour is the aquarium. When you walk in through the main entrance, there’s a large fish tank down the hall to your left. You can’t miss it! This fish tank houses a few of the many species of fish found in the state of Maine so not only is this tank fun to look at, it’s educational as well. There’s also a spot to the left where you sit up inside the tank to get a full 360 view of inside the tank. So this makes the fish tank fun for all age groups!
Related: 55 Fun Things To Do With Toddlers This Summer
In addition to the main aquarium as you enter the store, there are also lots of ponds throughout the store for kids to view fish from another angle. Be sure to keep them from tossing in coins, though! It’s so important to keep the fish happy and healthy for other customers to view.
See the wildlife
In addition to fish, the store also has plenty of places to see animals such as moose and deer (don’t worry, they’re not real! It’s all taxidermy! ha!). Toward the back of the store, for example, they have a display of two moose fighting which a lot of tourists like to take pictures of (this is mainly because a lot of people don’t realize just how big moose can get!). While they’re not real like they are at a zoo, kids at this age truly don’t care about that little detail. Allie still loves seeing them and naming the animals she recognizes.
Draw on a giant chalkboard
Upstairs in the kids’ clothing section is where a vast majority of the fun is. When you first walk in, there’s a giant chalkboard for kids to draw on which Allie absolutely loves. I think the fact that she gets to draw on the walls is what makes it even more fun for her. There’s a couple of buckets filled with chalk and erasers and kids go to town drawing on the boards.
Older kids will love this as well. I took one of the kids I work with here a couple of weeks ago and he and I played a few games of Tic Tac Toe and Hangman on them. Some parents were using the boards to teach reading and writing while others were helping their kids draw pictures. I’d personally love to have a chalkboard wall in our own home in the future. I think Allie and future little ones would love this idea! But this board can keep kids entertained for quite some time.
Learn how to tie knots
This activity is more for the older kids as opposed to toddlers, but the knot-tying station teaches kids (and adults) how to tie 9 different kinds of knots. I personally had never heard of most of these, but it’s neat to learn about them and what they’re used for.
Color and complete activity pages
Another great area is the picnic table. The table always has some fun activity and coloring pages and Allie almost always has to stop and color something. The most recent time we went, they even had brand new crayons so Allie got to be one of the first to use them. She had the whole area to herself on this day as well so she sat at the table like a big girl and colored endlessly while I took some photos of her. She could have stayed there all day if I had let her.
Let out some energy in the play area
Right next to the picnic table, L.L. Bean also has a small play area. It’s two little houses connected by a bridge and Allie loves running back and forth across it. In the photo below, I had actually just told her it was time to move on and she chose to run away in the opposite direction. She loved the play area so much, she didn’t even want to come with me! ha!
Look at books in the reading nook
I absolutely love this little reading area they have. The books here are all centered around all things Maine. Some are by Maine authors while others may be set in the state of Maine. Some also have lobsters and/or moose as the main characters (two very popular animals here in Maine). We own a few of these books so Allie really enjoys relaxing on the giant bean bags, flipping through the pages.
There’s also a rocking chair where I can pull her up onto my lap to read to her as well. This is easily one of my favorite kid-friendly activities here in L.L. Bean. I myself could sit here all day and just read to her. It’s such a calm little area where kids can relax while parents shop close by.
Play games
The last activity, I wanted to highlight are the games. Allie is a little young to care about actually playing them correctly, but she really enjoyed tossing the bean bags for cornhole and stacking the playing pieces from a game of checkers. She plays cornhole at home too since multiple people in our family have it in their yards so knew it would be a hit for her in the store.
Grab some lunch
Once the family is done playing, you can head back downstairs to the cafe for lunch. It’s located just past the aquarium I told you about at the start of the post. This is a great place to grab some soup, sandwiches, drinks, snacks, etc. Everything here is pretty affordable as well which makes it a super easy and stress-free lunch spot for kids.
Rainy days don’t have to slow down your summer fun. L.L. Bean has you and your toddler covered this summer! So on your next rainy day, be sure to check out all the fun activities L.L. Bean has to offer.
