Wet weather does not have to put a dampener on fun. While the rain could change the kind of activities you planned for, it could mean a whole list of activities you have never tried. Here are 70 rainy day activities with kids you can do with your children who might be restless and itching to have some fun!
Staying in has never been so fun. Don’t let it rain on your parade!
Great Rainy Day Activities For Kids
Read a Book Together
There is no more-classic indoor activity for kids that you can do at home than reading a book together. Cuddle up with your favourite tome and spend time reading together.
Play a Tabletop Game
Personally, one of our favourite games for younger children is Monopoly Junior. There is no need to be uber competitive, it is just a bit of fun. With older ones, try games like Sushi Go or Saboteur if you have enough people available.
Bake a Batch of Cookies
Get your child involved by having him or her help you out in the kitchen. If you are a baking maestro, whip up the dough from scratch. If you are culinary-challenged, there is no shame in buying a premix. Kids will have plenty of fun with this indoor activity for kids you can do at home. Plus, you get to eat the results too!
Pop into a Museum
How about visiting a place that’s rainproof and provides plenty of learning opportunities? Visit a museum you haven’t been to! Museums are one of the best places to learn about nature, art, science, history, technology with the help of artefacts and interactive exhibits.
Listen to Audio Books and Podcasts
One of my sons’ favourite activities is listening to audio books and Podcasts. Borrow them from Libby, stream podcasts and have stories being read out loud in no time. Our favourite titles include The Magic Treehouse series, Purple Rocket Podcast’s Grandpa’s Globe and Wow in the World.
Make Popcorn and settle down for a Family-friendly Show
Family movie night (or day) can be a thing. Elevate the experience by popping some popcorn and having everyone settle down with some cushions to watch the show. If you have tweens, we have some suggestions of shows to watch.
Compete in a LEGO Face-Off
Pull out your LEGO bricks and have a building competition. Set a theme and give five minutes to come up with the most creative interpretation of the theme. How about trying themes like “flying machine” or “friendly monster”? Check out more LEGO build ideas.
Climb a Wall
Instead of bouncing off walls at home, how about climbing a wall? Head to a bouldering gym or a rock climbing facility. They are mostly indoors and provide a wonderful way to work out and bond with the whole family.
Have a Home Treasure Hunt
Take a small trinket and show it to everyone so that they can identify it. Next, the Treasure Hider will have 20 counts to hide the trinket around the home. After that, it is a game of “hide and seek” as the Treasure Hunters go in search of the Home Treasure trinket.
Have a Campfire Night
At night, create a “campfire” by lighting a small scented candle or just switch on a torchlight while all the rest of the lights in the house are off. Add on some shadow play and silly songs. You can also narrate stories to your children off the top of your heads. For added points, break out the bag of marshmallows.
Make Food Paints
With some salt, flour, water and food colouring, you can make your own food paints. Half the fun is in the making as kids get to concoct their own colours. The other half of the fun is in using them to make something colourful and creative.
Water Bottle Bowling
Take spare water bottles you have at home and half-fill them with water. Alternatively, you can use paper cups turned upside down for stability. Next, line them up like bowling pins and use a ball to knock them down. Strike!
Create a DIY Home Obstacle Course
Find a corridor or spot at home which isn’t too wide and crisscross the space with some string or raffia to create an obstacle course. Kids can imagine it is a laser maze that they have to get across without getting zapped by the laser. Mission Impossible!
Make a Rube Goldberg Machine
When it comes to indoor activities for kids that fuse creativity with perseverance, let your imagination run wild by creating a Rube Goldberg Machine at home. Make use of household objects in completely unnecessary ways to perform a simple task.
Experiment with Oobleck
You can whip up a batch of oobleck at home and experiment with the non-newtonian fluid. Kids will be amazed as it oozes about when grabbed with the hand and yet acts like a solid when it is smacked.
Make an Origami Jumping Frog
Ribbit, ribbit. Using some paper, you can make your own origami jumping frog. Once the frogs are assembled, see which one can jump the furthest. Get the instructions here.
More Fun Rainy Activities for Kids When It is Pouring Outside
By now, you should have gotten quite a few ideas on how to have fun with kids indoors, even when it’s raining outside.
No matter what your child’s interests are, there is sure to be an activity that will keep them happy and busy during rainy days. So the next time you hear those familiar raindrops falling on your windowpane, don’t despair – just grab some snacks and get ready for a day full of fun!
Here are even more rainy day ideas for kids.
Build a House of Cards
This indoor activity for kids will take plenty of patience. Find out how high you can make a house of cards go.
Toothpick Tower
A simpler alternative to stacking a house of cards is to put together a toothpick tower. What you’ll need are some toothpicks and plasticine. Use the plasticine to join the toothpicks together. Set a challenge for kids to reach – for example the height of a bottle.
Play Five Stones
Introduce your kids to the classic childhood game of five stones. Find out how to play five stones.
Make Fingerprint Cards for the Next Holiday
Craft a card to give away to family and friends for the next holiday. You can use paints to make simple fingerprints on the cards and turn them into figures. Decorate them appropriately with holiday greetings.
Craft a Bookmark
Encourage kids to read by getting them to make their own personalised bookmark. All it takes is some card and a bit of string or ribbon to attach to one end.
Paper Helicopter
Another easy indoor activity to do with kids is to make a paper helicopter. With a few simple snips and folds, you can watch as the paper helicopter floats down spinning away. Alternatively, experiment to see who can fold a paper aeroplane that flies the furthest.
Create Your Own Board Game
To stir up your child’s creativity, help him or her make a brand new board game. First, brainstorm about the theme. After that, create the gameplay board and come up with the rules on how to move around the board.
Build a Blanket Fort
A blanket fort is a chance for kids to exercise their creativity and their imagination in one activity. It is super-adventurous to be able to crawl inside and pretend to fend off the monsters outside. Something that parents can enjoy and bond over with their kids too.
Visit a Library
Time to exercise the plastic card. No, not the credit card, the library card. Pay a visit to a library and search out your favourite tomes to read.
Visit an Indoor Themed Park
Indoor themed parks are a whole lot of fun especially since they keep you dry during the rain. Choose trampoline parks, adventure playgrounds, indoor playgrounds and other exciting spots for the kids!
Music Listening and Movement Activities
Staying at home presents a good opportunity to engage in some listening and movement activities to encourage your child to imagine, play and move. Not sure what to listen for? This story by The Music Circle shows you how.
Instruments of the Orchestra
Staying with theme of music, you can engage with your child by play-pretend that he or she is in the orchestra. The Hornpipe from Handel’s Water Music is an ideal piece of music to use. Find out how here.
Simon Says
Young children never tire of Simon Says – that’s why it is a classic! Simon Says touch your toes; Simon Says spin three times. It all works until Simon Says, “Go to bed”.
Don’t Let the Balloon Touch the Ground
This one is self-explanatory. Blow up a balloon and pass it from one person to another and see how many times it can be passed around before the balloon touches the ground.
Exercise with GoNoodle
GoNoodle is a YouTube channel with plenty of movement and action videos. Rather than passively watch videos, get kids moving and grooving with this channel.
Welcome to the World of Household Chores
Perhaps it is time to introduce the kids to ways they can help around the house. Show them some age-appropriate chores and get them to help out. Give them a role to be responsible for and let them take ownership!
Learn to Do the Vanishing Coin Trick
Want to give kids something to work on, introduce them to the Disappearing Coin trick. It requires a bit of practice and also help to develop fine motor skills. Once they have mastered it, they can impress their friends.
Try Science Experiments
Stay at home, kids can still carry out hands-on activities to learn about science. For simple science projects, check out Science Sparks for ideas at the Early Years and Primary levels.
Learn to Play an Instrument
For older kids, being stuck at home could be just the right opportunity to get them learning an instrument. Some that you can start off with are the ukulele or the cajon. There are instructional videos online which can get them started.
Create a Mini Terrarium or Potting
With the right container or pot along with some soil, you can get your mini garden going at home.
Make a Pizza
Kids love pizzas. Have them make their own from scratch. This activity allows them to learn more about how food is made.
Start a Family Newspaper
This is a fun way to get kids to apply themselves and practise some writing too. The family newspaper need not be a long one – it can just be an A4 sheet folded into two. Get them to include pictures too!
Make a Collage
Want creative indoor activities for kids? Take out some old magazines and get them to cut out the pictures to create a collage. Set a theme such as a “picnic” to get started.
Have a Freeze-Dance Party
Another fun and silly thing to do is to have a Freeze-Dance Party. Get your favourite music blasting on the speakers and when the music stops, everyone must freeze! Watch out for all the funny poses and get ready for some silly laughs.
Paper Mache Mask
Using some flour, water and old newspaper, you can easily create a custom paper mache mask. After it has dried, be sure to paint it together.
Animation Flip Book
Take an old book and show the kids how to create their own animated story by drawing on the edges. All it needs is a pencil and some creativity.
Things to Do on a Rainy Day with Kids
We’ve covered some great indoor activities for kids include reading, playing board games, watching movies or TV shows, doing arts and crafts projects, and playing video games. Additionally, parents can try engaging their kids in interactive puzzles or other brain teaser activities that help keep them entertained and engaged while stuck indoors. Here are more fun things to do on a rainy day with kids.
Fix a Jigsaw Puzzle
Jigsaw puzzles can range from the simple to the super-complicated. 10 pieces to 1000 pieces. Depending on what type of challenge you are up for, take your pick.
Clear out the Cupboard
Perhaps there are toys or old items in the kids’ cupboards that you haven’t seen for ages. If you are at home with the kids, use the opportunity to have them sort through the items together. Who knows, you may come across some hidden treasures.
Make Upcycled Toys
Teach kids about how items can be reused and upcycled. For example, you can turn a milk carton into a boat.
Make Your Own Play Dough
Making your own play dough isn’t that difficult and can be made with simple items found at home. Find out how to make your own play dough.
Sensory Play
For those with young children looking for indoor activities for kids, sensory play at home is something easy to do. Create your own sensory bottles or use coloured rice for little ones to get scooping and pouring. Find out more here.
Make Slime
The slime craze may have died down a little but kids will still jump at the opportunity to make their own slime at home. It is one of the indoor activities for kids they will jump on.
Create a Routine
Get the kids to help make a routine for their week. This not only helps to ensure that they don’t miss what they need to get done but also involves them in the decision-making process. Find out how here.
Compile a Family Recipe Book
Together with the kids, compile a book of recipes that the whole family can try. Use the opportunity to also teach them about healthy eating habits.
Start a Family Scrap Book
Memories are too often kept in the digital realm nowadays. Start a family scrap book to not only hold pictures of precious milestones but little pieces of memorabilia too.
Make a Learning Shelf
Why not create a corner where you can fill with learning materials for kids to learn about different topics and subjects. Don’t waste the opportunity to spend some quality times bonding and teaching them new things too.
Make a Fruit Loop Necklace
For young children, stringing together Fruit Loops is a chance to practise their fine motor skills. Once they are done, it is a colourful necklace they can munch on.
Stage a Musical
Take a classic story and turn it into a musical. Kids can let their creativity flow, rehearse it and stage it for the family to enjoy!
Make Cute Bentos Together
A good excuse to play with food and prepare a meal at the same time.
Create a Countries of the World Book
Choose a country and create a thematic scrap book based on the country. Together with your child, you can work through topics like its location, geography, language, traditions and landmarks. It is a great way to learn about another culture. It can even lead to trying out the foods from the country or even visiting it in the future.
Learn about Animals
Do some research into less well known animals that exist in the world. Let check out the goblin shark or the okapi.
Create your own Aquarium
Make your very own aquarium at home. Follow the step here.
Work out Indoors
Turn on a Youtube video and start a family workout! Break some sweat, not a leg and challenge one another to a fun workout competition. The gamified challenges can bring a whole new dimension of fun.
Visit an Escape Room
If you love solving puzzles and mysteries, escape rooms are for you! In addition to being indoors, the escape rooms are an easy way to encourage teamwork and family bonding.
Go Putting
Perfect that tee off and go putting! Visit an indoor golf spot, there could even be kid-friendly ones nearby.
Have an Indoor Picnic
Even if it does rain on your picnic, you can always bring the picnic indoors and have it in your living room! This always makes the meals much more appetising with more fun!
Setup a Tent
Camping can be indoors too! Set up the tent anywhere suitable and have a ball of time having a pretend-camping in the “wild”! Gather the animal soft toys, build a “bonfire” and let the imagination run free for this little adventure.
Visit the Arcade
Video games at the arcade are a sure-win. They will definitely get everyone excited and too busy punching buttons to lament about the weather.
Dine Out
Head out for a meal at your favourite restaurant or café. Hotpots or anything warm and comforting are ideal meals for rainy days!
Visit a Bowling Alley
Prefer the full works of bowling alleys? Visit one, put on those bowling shoes and you are ready to knock some pins over!
Play A Minute To Win It
Some challenges only take a minute to complete – do they? Run some “A minute to win it” challenges to engage the children. These are guaranteed to make everyone laugh.
Head to the Ice Skating Rink
Embrace the cold to go ice-skating at the indoor rink.
Karaoke at Home
All you need for a karaoke session at home are – music videos, a pretend microphone and singers! Play those favourite songs from Disney movies, latest hits or oldies and everyone can sing along.
Play Charades
How about a good old game of Charades? Decide on a theme, write down the words and just take turns acting out the words. It can get really competitive!
Rainbow Hunt
Go on a rainbow hunt around the home! This is a fun one which gets the children busy finding different objects of different colours. Store the finds in a bag and keep them for observational study later on. Get more cool scavenger hunt ideas that you can do at home.
Doodle Using an Online Tutorial
Get your child to choose an online drawing tutorial and start doodling! One of our go-tos is Rob Biddulph’s videos!
You may also enjoy these sporty ideas that you can do even on a rainy day.
